MINNEAPOLIS-Andrew Wiggins scored 28 points and Karl-Anthony Towns posted his ninth straight double-double with 23 points and 18 rebounds as the Minnesota Timberwolves held on to beat the Houston Rockets 119-105 on Wednesday night.
Ricky Rubio had 10 points and tied his career high and a franchise best with 17 assists in theTimberwolves' second straight win.
Brandon Rush had 12 points on four 3-pointers in his first start for Minnesota and Shabazz Muhammad added 20 points off the bench.
The Timberwolves (13-26) were without third-leading scorer Zach LaVine.
James Harden had 33 points, six rebounds and 12 assists for Houston (31-10), which had its league-best, nine-game winning streak snapped. Ryan Anderson added 18 points, but the Rockets shot 41.4 percent from the floor and 15 of 42 on 3-pointers.
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The Timberwolves lost in overtime at home to Houston in December after leading by 21, including a 12-point advantage with two minutes left.
The Rockets appeared ready to post another comeback win.
Wiggins scored 15 points in the first quarter as Minnesota led by as many as 11, and Houston missed its first six 3-pointers.
The Rockets worked their way back within one at the end of the first half after finishing on an 8-2 run that included a buzzer-beating, 31-foot 3-pointer by Nene Hilario.
Harden started the second half with a 3, giving Houston its first lead since 9-8.
Unlike the December meeting, Minnesota answered. Rubio found Muhammad for two fast-break dunks and Towns sent a pass the length of the court to Wiggins for another as the Timberwolvesended the third quarter on a 21-6 run.
Rubio scored four points in the quarter and assisted on eight of Minnesota's 12 field goals in the quarter.
The Timberwolves edged the lead out to 21 early in the fourth quarter before Anderson and the Rockets started to hit from 3. The league's sixth-best 3-point shooting team, Houston was 7 of 14 from 3-point range in the fourth. Anderson connected for three of them.
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NOTES: Minnesota SG Zach LaVine warmed up but was ruled out before the game with a left hip contusion. LaVine, who leads the league in minutes per game and is averaging 20.4 points per game, was injured in the previous game against Dallas. Brandon Rush started in his place. ... Houston was without reserve G Eric Gordon, who is averaging 17.8 points per game. Gordon didn't make the trip to Minnesota because of a sprained left big toe. ... Entering play, Houston had attempted 371 more 3-pointers than the next-closest team, the Cleveland Cavaliers. ... TheTimberwolves' four-game homestand concludes Friday against Oklahoma City. The Rockets return home on Friday against Memphis.
