FILE – Taurean Prince #12 of the Minnesota Timberwolves reacts to Naz Reid #11 during a 108-101 Timberwolves win over the LA Clippers at Crypto.com Arena on February 28, 2023 in Los Angeles, California. Harry How/Getty Images/AFP
Taurean Prince outdueled Julius Randle in a battle of performances that flirted with history Monday night, hitting all eight of his 3-point shots and scoring the insurance basket with 10.4 seconds remaining as the visiting Minnesota Timberwolves edged the New York Knicks 140-134.
Prince finished one 3-pointer shy of tying the NBA record for most 3-pointers without a miss, held by Ben Gordon (twice) and Latrell Sprewell. Prince is just the seventh player to hit at least eight 3-pointers without a miss.
The Timberwolves needed every bit of Prince’s effort to overcome a 57-point performance by Randle, who tied Richie Guerin (Dec. 11, 1959 against the Syracuse Nationals) for the third-most points in a game in team history and finished five points shy of tying Carmelo Anthony’s franchise mark, set Jan. 24, 2014 against the Charlotte Hornets.
Taurean Prince shot 8 threes tonight at MSG… he didn’t miss a single one ????
???? Career-high 8 threes for @taureanprince
???? 35 points on 12-13 shooting
???? Clutch score to seal @Timberwolves W pic.twitter.com/Io5jTbtr7f— NBA (@NBA) March 21, 2023
Randle scored 26 points in the third quarter, a team record for any quarter, as he led a comeback from a 17-point first-half deficit. But any hope the Knicks had of winning ended when Randle was whistled for a technical foul for spiking the ball after Prince’s decisive layup.
Mike Conley (24 points, 11 assists) had a double-double for the Timberwolves (36-37), who snapped a three-game losing streak despite playing without leading scorer Anthony Edwards (right ankle). Jaden McDaniels scored 18 points while Rudy Gobert had 16. Naz Reid added 12 points and Kyle Anderson finished with 10.
Jalen Brunson (23 points, 10 assists) posted a double-double for the Knicks (42-31), who had their three-game winning streak halted. Immanuel Quickley had 19 points while RJ Barrett (13 points) and Josh Hart (10 points) also got into double figures.
57 POINTS.
Julius Randle was SPECIAL tonight.He became the fourth @nyknicks player with 55+ points and the FIRST with 55+ points and 8+ threes… MIN tops NYK in a thriller at MSG. pic.twitter.com/oYdCM27ZeD
— NBA (@NBA) March 21, 2023
Conley hit three free throws — a sequence that included the third tie and sixth lead change of the quarter — to give the Timberwolves the lead for good at 132-131 with 2:17 left. Brunson missed a driving layup and Prince drained another 3-pointer. Randle turned the ball over and committed a foul on the next possession, after which McDaniels hit a pair of free throws.
Randle then converted an old-fashioned three-point play, but Prince responded with the decisive driving layup with 10.4 seconds left before Conley hit the subsequent technical free throw.
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