The first quarter belonged to Julius Randle.
The second quarter belonged to Donte DiVincenzo.
But Wednesday night belonged to the Knicks, who rode a second-half explosion to a 137-114 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves in Randle and DiVincenzo’s latest return to Madison Square Garden.
The Knicks (5-3) scored 83 of their season-high 137 points in the second half and outscored Minnesota by 27 points after halftime.
Jalen Brunson scored 16 of his 23 points in the second half, and he finished with seven rebounds and 10 assists. OG Anunony led the Knicks with 25 points on 10-of-17 shooting, including 18 points after halftime.
That was more than enough to survive a game-high 32 points from Randle and 21 points from DiVincenzo.
Karl-Anthony Towns, whom the Knicks acquired in the October 2024 trade that sent Randle and DiVincenzo to Minnesota, added 15 points on 5-of-11 shooting with 10 rebounds and four assists.
Randle got off to a hot start. On the Wolves’ opening possession, Randle drilled a 3-pointer on an assist from DiVincenzo. Less than two minutes later, Randle made another 3-pointer, and he finished the first quarter with 11 points on 4-of-7 shooting.
DiVincenzo then took over in the second quarter, making four 3-pointers in the period, including a pair over an ex-Villanova teammate in Brunson and another over fellow former college teammate Josh Hart.
Towns, who played through an illness that had made him a game-time decision, also had a strong second quarter, delivering a pair of emphatic dunks — including one on which he backed down an overmatched Anthony Edwards — and also dished out three assists.
But in the waning seconds of the first half, DiVincenzo stole the ball on a bad pass by Anunoby, then found Randle for an alley-oop lay-up to give Minnesota a 58-54 lead at the break.
The Knicks answered with a 10-0 run in the third quarter, which Brunson capped with a 3-pointer that put the Knicks up, 76-67. Brunson scored 12 points during that third quarter, during which the Knicks outscored the Timberwolves, 40-28.
The Knicks led, 94-86, going into the fourth quarter, and they only padded their lead from there. Anunoby scored 11 points in the fourth, helping the Knicks outscore Minnesota, 43-28, in the quarter.
Six different Knicks scored at least 13 points as they shot 55-of-102 (53.9%) from the field and 19-of-42 (45.2%) on 3-pointers. Mitchell Robinson had nine offensive rebounds, helping the Knicks score 31 second-chance points.
Wednesday marked Randle’s second regular-season game at the Garden since the trade. In last season’s return, Randle finished with eight points, seven rebounds and six assists in a 116-99 win at MSG.
DiVincenzo missed that game with a sprained toe, and while he had played in two preseason games at the Garden with the Wolves, Wednesday marked his first time back for a contest that counted.
Randle played five seasons with the Knicks from 2019-24, earning three All-Star selections.
The Knicks were fresh off of a sixth consecutive losing season when Randle signed with them during the 2019 offseason — the same summer Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving spurned them for the Nets — and he proved to be instrumental in their turnaround.
DiVincenzo spent only the 2023-24 season with the Knicks, but the gritty guard quickly became a fan favorite as he, Brunson and Hart formed the “Nova Knicks.”
The sharp-shooting DiVincenzo set the franchise’s single-season record with 283 made 3-pointers that year, then delivered a pair of game-winning 3-pointers that postseason.
Before Wednesday’s game, DiVincenzo chatted on the court with Brunson and Hart, the latter of whom jokingly put on the face mask that DiVincenzo has been wearing to protect a broken nose.
“It was one year, but it was a really good year, and they became family,” DiVincenzo told the Daily News on Monday night at Barclays Center.
The Timberwolves got 15 points in 29 minutes from Edwards, who beat his expected timeline for a strained hamstring to return for Wednesday’s game. Randle shot 12-of-21 from the field, while DiVincenzo went 5-of-11 on 3-pointers.
But that wasn’t enough to top the Knicks, who have now won three games in a row, all since returning from last week’s 0-3 road trip. They are 5-0 at the Garden this season.
Their season-long seven-game homestand continues Sunday night, when they host the Nets (1-7) in the first interborough battle of the season.
