MINNEAPOLIS – Karl-Anthony Towns scored 32 points and 20 rebounds in his return to Minnesota, leading the inspired New York Knicks past the Timberwolves 133-107 on Thursday night.

Mikal Bridges scored 29 points for the Knicks, who built a lead of as many as 36 points in the third quarter and won for the 12th time in 16 games.

Towns was the star who was the subject of a loud ovation and a pregame tribute video highlighting his nine seasons with Minnesota after being selected first overall in the 2015 draft.

Towns was traded to New York just before the start of training camp in exchange for Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo and clearly had fun from start to finish as the Knicks scored 73 points in the first half.

Randle had 24 points for the Timberwolves, who were outscored 37-8 in the first nine minutes of the second quarter. Towns had 19 points in that span, his most in a quarter this season.

Key moment

Midway through the third quarter, Towns grabbed a rebound to start a fast break and finished the game on the other end with his fifth 3-pointer, diving in front of Timberwolves coach Chris Finch after a perfect swing to make it 84 :59 lead.

Key statistics

The Timberwolves have won six of their last seven games, holding their opponents to 92 points or fewer in each win. That was the most points they have allowed this season.

Takeaways

Curtsy: Josh Hart was left out of the starting lineup for personal reasons, but one of the NBA’s best offensive players never missed a chance, shooting 51.5% from the field.

Timberwolves: It was as emotional a game for them as it was for the Towns, but they never recovered from the Knicks’ underwhelming second quarter and ran out of energy for the rest of the game.

Next

New York plays in New Orleans on Saturday when Minnesota hosts Golden State.