Towns, Russell push Wolves to 121-117 win against Bulls

<p>MINNEAPOLIS &mdash; Karl-Anthony Towns had 27 points and 12 rebounds, D’Angelo Russell scored 27 and the Minnesota Timberwolves beat the Chicago Bulls 121-117 on Sunday night.</p>
<p>Ricky Rubio connected on five of his six 3-point attempts and scored 17 points. Rookie Anthony Edwards added 15 points for Minnesota, which held on a game after allowing Boston to come back from 17 down in the second half in an overtime loss on Friday.</p>
<p>Two days after his first 50-point game, Zach LaVine scored 21 of his 30 points in the second half as Chicago tried to mount a comeback. LaVine was 13 of 28 from the field and 4 of 12 from 3-point territory.</p>
<p>Nikola Vucevic had 18 points and Daniel Theis scored 13, but the Bulls lost for the sixth time in nine games since acquiring the two players at the trade deadline.</p>
<p>The Timberwolves have started games slowly this season and have led at halftime just 10 times in their 54 games. But they’ve held 11-point halftime leads in each of their past two games. This time, they made the lead stand.</p>
<p>Minnesota used a 21-8 run in the first quarter to take control. The Wolves took their first lead with 7:28 left in the first and never trailed the rest of the way.</p>
<p>Chicago cut the lead to one several times in the fourth, but Minnesota answered each challenge. After LaVine connected on a 3 to make it 103-102, Russell re-entered the game and helped the closing push with seven points in the final 3:36. Towns added a punctuating 3 in the final minute and closed out the game with a pair of free throws.</p>
<p>TIP-INS</p>
<p>Bulls: Garrett Temple missed his seventh straight game with a right hamstring strain. … Troy Brown Jr., another trade acquisition, has taken Temple’s place as a defensive wing off the bench. Brown had 15 points and seven rebounds in the game.</p>
<p>Timberwolves: Towns just missed a triple-double with eight assists. It’s his 57th career game with at least 10 points, 10 rebounds and five assists. … Edwards extended his streak of games with a steal to 22, the longest active streak in the NBA and the longest streak by a rookie in franchise history.</p>
<p>UP NEXT</p>
<p>Bulls: At Memphis to play the Grizzlies on Monday night.</p>
<p>Timberwolves: Host the New Jersey Nets on Monday night. New Jersey, already without James Harden, announced that Kyrie Irving would be out of the game for personal reasons.</p>
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