National Basketball Association

Karl-Anthony Towns had a career game (and the Wolves still lost)

Published Dec. 9, 2016 12:29 p.m. ET

Nick Schwartz

Karl-Anthony Towns is proving that he'll one day be in the MVP discussion, but he couldn't save the Timberwolves Wednesday night at home despite having the best game of his career.

In a marquee matchup with New York's star big man Kristaps Porzingis, Towns scored 22 points in the first quarter alone, and finished the game with a career-high 47 points, 18 rebounds and three blocks.

Having just turned 21 in the middle of November, he became the youngest player in franchise history to score 40 points in a game - and he accomplished the feat in a third as many games as it took Timberwolves legend Kevin Garnett.

Towns didn't get much help, though. The Wolves shot just 20 percent from behind the arc and made nine fewer threes than the Knicks, and Minnesota's bench scored just five points in the game. Minnesota clawed back from a 16-point deficit with 8:30 left to play, but Carmelo Anthony won the game with an 18-foot jumper with 2.3 seconds left.