MINNEAPOLIS -- Karl-Anthony Towns arrived at the Minnesota Timberwolves home arena feeling sick and wondering if he would play.

Minnesota is glad its young center gave it a go, and those in attendance would have had no clue Towns wasn't feeling well.

Towns had 37 points and 13 rebounds as the Timberwolves cruised to a 129-109 victory over the Brooklyn Nets on Saturday night.

"Today was a long day for me," Towns said after his 36th double-double of the season and second straight game -- and ninth of the season -- with at least 30 points. "I'm glad it ended well. Was real close to getting a DNP tonight. I walked in with 20 minutes to go and decided to play. ... I'm just glad I found a way to get out of bed today."

Andrew Wiggins scored 23 points, Zach LaVine added 20 points and Gorgui Dieng had a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds for Minnesota, which is finding its way under first-year coach Tom Thibodeau.

"I thought we got loose for a while," Thibodeau said. "This is the type of team, you let your guard down just for a minute and they can make up ground on you quickly. I thought we responded. The second half was better. I like what we did offensively. Moving the ball was very good. We got good shots. We shared it; made quick decisions. Defensively, we still have a lot of work to do."

Brooklyn, playing the second game of its eighth back-to-back this season, lost for the 16th time in 17 games as Brook Lopez scored 25 points and had seven rebounds.

Isaiah Whitehead had 10 points and eight assists off the bench for the Nets, who got a spark from their second unit to keep the game close until midway through the third quarter.

Reserve Sean Kilpatrick added 14 points as Brooklyn got 50 points from its bench.

"Our energy at the start was absolutely, no question, unacceptable," Lopez said. "Our second unit did a good job and helped pick us up. Our starting group, we obviously rely on them. We can't come out like that. No question, myself included, I wasn't where I needed to be at all."

Minnesota raced out to a 19-5 lead to start the game and Brooklyn had five turnovers in their first 12 possessions. Then Lopez got the Nets back in the game and they scored 11 straight points.

Lopez scored Brooklyn's first 10 points and no other starter scored until Randy Foye had a layup with 8:35 left in the second quarter.

The Nets pulled as close as two points but never led.

A Lopez layup brought Brooklyn within 74-71 before the Timberwolves closed the third quarter with an 18-7 run.

"I just don't think our defense is, it just wasn't acceptable tonight," Nets coach Kenny Atkinson said. "I didn't think we contested shots. I thought our physicality was below average. On the road, we talk about having a road mentality, we didn't have it tonight. We got to find guys that want to defend, defend and guard. It's too hard in this league if you're not defending."

Towns and Lopez each scored 11 points in the third as the two opposing big men went head to head. Towns' all-around game included two 3-pointers in the second half and muscling Brooklyn down low.

"It's like having a toolbox and what tool are you going to use," Thibodeau said. "He's got a lot of weapons. And it's good. But his biggest area of growth has been the playmaking. Even though he only had one assist tonight, he's making quicker decisions. Sometimes him just getting the ball out quickly so the next guy can swing it and make a play, that's big for us."

Minnesota shot 51.1 percent from the field, made 26 of 32 free throws and outrebounded the Nets 48-40.

Atkinson even said he will contemplate lineup changes to improve defensively.

"We've got to find the guys that want to defend, and distribute the minutes appropriately," Atkinson said. "I think that's where we are when you have, I think we've had a streak where we're not defending. That's not acceptable. That's not the type of program we're trying to run."

NOTES: Nets F Rondae Hollis-Jefferson did not return for the second half after being ruled out with a sore right ankle. ... Brook Lopez, Trevor Booker and Caris LeVert returned for Brooklyn after missing Friday's game in Cleveland. Lopez and LeVert were held out for rest and Booker was dealing with an illness. Jeremy Lin (strained left hamstring) and Joe Harris (sprained left ankle) were held out. Lin was on the court shooting before the game. ... Minnesota shot 49.5 percent from the field in its previous nine games and started the day ranked 11th in the league in field-goal percentage (46.1 percent) and free-throw percentage (78.6). ... One of Brooklyn's nine wins this season was against the Timberwolves, a 119-110 victory at Barclays Center on Nov. 8. ... Entering the day, Minnesota C Karl-Anthony Towns ranked in the top 10 in points (27.9 per game), rebounds (12.8), blocks (1.78) and field-goal percentage (62.7 percent) since Jan. 9. PG Ricky Rubio led the NBA in assists during that span, averaging 12.1 per game. ... Minnesota hosts Orlando on Monday, and the Nets travel to Miami for a Monday game.