Gibson leads pack of Wolves in hunting down Lakers

MINNEAPOLIS — Taj Gibson scored a season-high 28 points and Jimmy Butler added 24, providing the Minnesota Timberwolves with the production and energy for a 119-111 comeback victory over the Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday night (Friday Manila time).

Jeff Teague pitched in 20 points and Jamal Crawford added 15 for the Timberwolves, who rallied from a deficit as large as 15 points in the second quarter and 12 points late in the third to raise their home record to 24-7 on an emotional evening that started with a tribute to former coach and executive Flip Saunders.

Julius Randle had 23 points and nine rebounds for the Lakers before fouling out, and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Brandon Ingram each scored 17 points.

Ivica Zubac, who went 8 for 8 from the floor for a season-high 19 points, threw down a dunk for a 99-98 lead for the Lakers, but that was essentially their last momentum-creating play of the game.

Butler and Gibson, the former Chicago Bulls teammates, muscled their way to the basket with a fierce determination down the stretch. Butler drove along the baseline and flicked a short pass to Gibson in the lane, where he dropped in a layup and converted a three-point play for a 110-104 lead with 3:59 left.

Then Butler came up with crowd-pleasing blocks of Randle and Isaiah Thomas on consecutive possessions in the closing minutes, putting his stamp on yet another winning performance with his new team.

This was a win the Wolves badly needed before the All-Star break, after their 13-game home winning streak ended in humbling fashion on Tuesday against Houston. They moved within percentage points of San Antonio for third place in the Western Conference at 36-25. The Spurs are 35-24.

The Lakers shot so sharply to start the game, going 17 for 27 from the floor in the first quarter, that the Wolves produced separate spurts of 23-8 and 21-6 in the first half yet still trailed 65-62 at halftime.

Randle cranked up his aggressiveness in the third quarter, taking the ball hard to the basket into the thick of the Wolves defense and finishing with 10 points in the period as the Lakers again pushed ahead. He drove and scored on Karl-Anthony Towns for an 86-76 lead, and a frustrated Towns was called for an offensive foul on Brook Lopez to erase a spin-move layup on the next possession.

But Crawford got the Wolves and the crowd going early in the fourth quarter, sandwiching a 31-foot swish by Tyus Jones with a pair of 3-pointers of his own. The second one came off a slick crossover dribble that decked Corey Brewer at the top of the key and brought the Wolves within 95-94.