Randle scores 39, Anunoby has 17 in strong debuts as Knicks beat Timberwolves 112-106

Anthony Edwards scored 35 points, his third straight game above 30. Karl-Anthony Towns snapped out of a recent scoring slump with 29.

The Knicks outscored the Wolves 38-17 in the second quarter to take a 61-49 lead, then broke it open with an 8-0 run in the third that gave them a 19-point advantage.

Donte DiVincenzo and Anunoby hit consecutive 3-pointers to give the Knicks their largest lead at 83-61 later in the quarter, and it was 94-78 headed to the fourth.

Minnesota then scored the first 10 of the final period to make it a six-point game before Anunoby’s 3-pointer from the corner stopped the run. The Wolves kept coming, but Randle wouldn’t let them come all the way back.

Anunoby said he arrived in New York on Sunday and had been trying to learn some of the Knicks’ plays and terminologies they use. He can become a free agent after the season, but wasn’t ready to think about his future with his present so unsettled.

“I have to find out where to live,” he said. “I don’t know anything. I’m just trying to figure it out.”

The Knicks gave up two of their best scorers to get him. Coach Tom Thibodeau said he liked the way the Knicks had been playing, but viewed the trade as the kind of chance team president Leon Rose had to take.

“I thought we’ve had a heavy road schedule and I thought there was steady improvement,” Thibodeau said. “But like I said, when you sit in Leon’s chair, you also have to look at where we are now and where we want to go.”

UP NEXT

Timberwolves: Host New Orleans on Wednesday.

Knicks: Host Chicago on Wednesday.

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AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba

Brian Mahoney, The Associated Press

by Canadian Press

Randle scores 39, Anunoby has 17 in strong debuts as Knicks beat Timberwolves 112-106

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