Despite Julius Randle's 57 points, which tied the third-highest game in Knicks history, the Minnesota Timberwolves defeated New York 140-134 on Monday night thanks to a hot start and a consistent second half.
For the Timberwolves, Mike Conley contributed 24 points and 11 assists, and Taurean Prince scored a season-high 35 points while shooting 8 for 8 from beyond the arc. With 2:17 left, his three free throws gave Minnesota a permanent advantage.
With 42 seconds left, Randle scored his final basket, a three-point play that brought the score to 137-134.
However, Kyle Anderson beat him to the rebound on Minnesota's ensuing possession, and a cutting Prince scored inside with 10.1 seconds left before Conley made a free throw after Randle received a technical foul.
The Timberwolves shot and scored spectacularly in the first half, making over 70% of their attempts and leading by 17 points before Randle helped the Knicks rally with a franchise-record 26 points in the third quarter.
He finished second behind Richie Guerin in the only two 60-point performances in Knicks history, behind Bernard King's 60 on Christmas Day in 1984 and Carmelo Anthony's 62 on Jan. 24, 2014. Nonetheless, the Knicks' three-game winning streak was ended.
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While the All-Star forward did most of his damage from a much greater distance, he did throw down a strong driving dunk in the first quarter. Randle scored more points than his previous career high of 46 thanks to eight 3-pointers.
The Wolves got out to the hottest start of any NBA team this season by making their first 10 shots, and they didn't really cool off the rest of the way, finishing at 61.4% despite Anthony Edwards missing their second consecutive game due to a sprained right ankle.
After Jaden McDaniels missed Minnesota's subsequent shot, about seven minutes into the game, Knicks supporters erupted in jubilant applause.
Rudy Gobert's jumper made the Wolves the first team this season to make its first ten attempts. After one, the Wolves were shooting 16 of 22 (72.7%) and had a 42-32 advantage.
With 4:35 remaining in the first half, Prince sank a 3-pointer to make it 70-53, but the Knicks eventually came up with key stops to make it 79-70 at the break.
Randle then returned and went 9 for 10 in the third, making 5 of 6 shots from beyond the arc.
After the one miss, a careless attempt that missed the rim by a few feet, he raised his hand to blame himself. But, given how practically everything else he vomited was being ingested, he couldn't really be faulted for trying.