Karl-Anthony Towns scores 62 points but Timberwolves shocked in 128-125 loss to Hornets

Target Center might have a serious problem with its smoke detectors.

Eighteen thousand and twenty-four fans sat in the downtown Minneapolis arena for nearly three hours Monday night on the edge of their seats. Not a single alarm went off, nor did anybody flee from the stadium as Karl-Anthony Towns set the Timberwolves’ home court on fire.

Yet not even a scorching night from Towns, who broke his own franchise record with 62 points, could stop the Wolves from a fourth-quarter collapse. Minnesota fell to the Hornets 128-125 after being outscored 36-18 in the final period.

“There’s no silver lining; there’s no moral victories,” Towns said after the game. “It was cool when we were saying that when we were 15 and 30. That’s the time you want to try to pull out the ‘oh, moral victories.’ But number one in the West, one of the best teams in the NBA, there ain’t no time for moral victories, silver linings, great nights. … We’ve gotta find a way to win.”

Towns’ stellar night included shooting 60% from the field (21 of 35), along with a career-best 10 made threes on 15 attempts and eight rebounds. However, he struggled to appreciate his accomplishment because of the game’s result.

“It’s hard to look at the game like that,” Towns said when asked about his performance. “I was just doing my job, I really just wanted to win. You want to be able to have one of those nights on a win. Having a night like that on a loss doesn’t feel very good, historic, whatever you want to say.”

Towns opened the game with no hesitancy to pull the trigger. The center lit it up out of the gates, making his first five shots and ultimately accounting for 74% of his team’s first-quarter offense. By the end of the period, Towns had racked up 22 points on a 4-for-4 rate from deep. Only six of those points came from inside the paint.

However, Towns’ hot start wasn’t enough to discourage Charlotte. The Hornets’ momentum gave them a 42-40 lead at the beginning of the second. It didn’t last long, though, and Towns followed up a Shake Milton jumper with his fifth and sixth threes of the game in as many attempts.

Video story: Finch rips ‘absolutely disgusting performance’ after loss

The Timberwolves had every opportunity to pull away with emphatic, momentum-altering plays in the first half, including poster dunks from Towns and Rudy Gobert, but the Hornets continued to hang around. Even Towns’ seventh and eighth threes, which sent the Target Center crowd into a frenzy, couldn’t demoralize Charlotte. Despite Towns’ 44 points — a Timberwolves franchise record for points in a half — Minnesota went into the break leading by only five at 69-64.

Towns wasted no time picking up where he left off to start the third. After starting the period with six consecutive points, he knocked down his ninth made triple of the game to give the Wolves a nine-point lead and climb to 53 points.

As Towns came out midway through the third, Minnesota finally found some offense without him. Anthony Edwards, who had been scoreless prior, facilitated the offense to perfection, tallying six assists and five points. The usual scoring spark plug turned on his playmaking gene to match his career high with 11 assists through three, helping the Wolves to a 107-92 lead and a 14-5 run to end the third.

Yet Charlotte refused to fold, and a 19-6 run to end the third and start the fourth made it 113-108 with 8:27 remaining. Even after Towns set the franchise scoring record, the Hornets’ balloon did not deflate, and a corner three-pointer with 3:55 left by Nick Smith Jr. put the Hornets up 120-119. The basket marked Charlotte’s first lead since the 8:25 mark of the second quarter.

After an Edwards layup regained the lead, consecutive jumpers from P.J. Washington, Terry Rozier and Brandon Miller gave the Hornets their largest lead of the game at five. However, four quick free throws and a miss from LaMelo Ball gave the Wolves a chance to take the lead with the shot clock turned off.

With the timer counting down from 12.5 seconds, Towns drove and was met by a trio of Hornets defenders. His shot was blocked by rookie Leaky Black, whose slap on Towns’ wrist did not earn a foul call, and the Timberwolves fell short after a late prayer heave missed to end the game.