Towns, Wolves rout Blazers 124-81, extend win streak to 5

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - Karl-Anthony Towns had 27 points and 13 rebounds as the Minnesota Timberwolves beat the Portland Trail Blazers by double digits for the second time in three days, 124-81 on Monday night.

Malik Beasley added 19 points, and Naz Reid had 18 points and 11 rebounds off the bench for Minnesota.

Towns’ effort came in less than three quarters, as he and most of Minnesota’s starters stayed on the bench in the fourth with the game well in hand. Towns joined the home crowd in doing the wave from the bench as the Timberwolves fans reveled in their team’s blowout victory. Wolves guard Patrick Beverley added to the fun by launching T-shirts into the crowd during the fourth quarter.

“It’s an outstanding sports town. We just got to give them a reason to keep coming out,” Timberwolves coach Chris Finch said. “This is a team a lot of people like to watch play. ... It feels like we got something growing here and we’ve just got to keep building on it.”

Monday’s game came two days after the Wolves beat Portland by 15 points at Target Center. Towns had 36 points in that win.

Minnesota matched its season-high win streak at five games as it tries to keep pace in the Western Conference.