![Minnesota Timberwolves center Karl-Anthony Towns (32) hugged his girlfriend on his way off the court after he set a franchise record with his 56 point effort over the Hawks. ] JEFF WHEELER ï jeff.wheeler@startribune.com The Minnesota Timberwolves beat the Atlanta Hawks 126-114 in an NBA basketball game Wednesday night, March 28, 2018 at Target Center in Minneapolis.](https://arc.stimg.co/startribunemedia/AGPI7UN4IRI3JJLXJBX7QG26SU.jpg?&w=1080)
Before the Timberwolves' 126-114 victory at Target Center on Wednesday, Atlanta coach Mike Budenholzer called Karl-Anthony Towns a "unique" player because of his ability to score at his size from nearly anywhere on the court.
And until a couple of hours later, he perhaps really had no true idea …
Towns' 56 points set the Wolves franchise scoring record. His night included six three-pointers on eight attempts, and he also made three free throws when he was fouled on a fourth-quarter attempt.
"To go 6-for-8 at his size is just impressive," Budenholzer said. "Then he gets fouled on a three-point shot and that's 21 points right just outside the three-point line for a guy that's 6-10, 6-11, 7-0, whatever he is. Around the basket, on the offensive boards, he was good, too. He scored a lot of different ways. Impressive, no doubt."
Despite Towns' performance, Budenholzer praised his players' efforts to stop Towns. Starting center Dewayne Dedmon, Mike Muscala and Tyler Cavanaugh all tried — without much luck.
"You know, as a coaching staff, we should adjust, do something different," Budenholzer said. "But I'm proud of the way our guys competed."
A Target Center audience announced at 16,183 cheered Towns with every shot — particularly every three-pointer — as he approached 50 points.
Except when he passed up a shot with Muscala closing fast on him and shoveled a short pass to Jeff Teague, who made a three that put the Wolves up 121-108 with 2:08 left. The crowd exhaled its disapproval until Teague sank his shot.
