NEW YORK — Friday’s matchup between the Timberwolves and Knicks lost a healthy dose of its intrigue just before the game when Karl-Anthony Towns, who came in as a game-time decision because of a thumb injury, sat out his second consecutive game. There will be no other rematches this season between Towns and his former team.

The Wolves were down one of the players the received in the trade for Towns, Donte DiVincenzo, who missed his first game this season because of a left big toe sprain.

Towns’ absence meant the Knicks became an easier opponent Friday, and Anthony Edwards made sure his team left with a 116-99 win.

Edwards had a bad first quarter — he was just 1 for 7 — but he played just about a perfect game after that. He finished with 36 points, 13 rebounds and seven assists as he flirted with his first triple-double. Edwards found the right balance of passing and playmaking, especially in the fourth quarter, as the Wolves turned a close game into a double-digit win. The highlight of his night was a two-handed slam over Precious Achiuwa as Achiuwa fouled him with 7 minutes, 21 seconds remaining.

Naz Reid had 23 points off the bench.

The Wolves will now head home for a game against Cleveland on Saturday.

The new starters are the old ones

With DiVincenzo out, coach Chris Finch put Mike Conley back in the starting lineup, reuniting the starting five the team had used for most of the season. That unit had issues starting slowly, but Friday the starters helped the Wolves build a small lead as Conley got off to a hot start and Edwards a cold one. Finch often said the team needed to get Conley going in that lineup, and he took it upon himself to do that early with 10 points on 4-for-5 shooting.

The Wolves led 28-21 after a quarter despite a 1-for-7 start for Edwards, who had four assists after one.

Dillingham back

Rookie Rob Dillingham was back in the rotation as a result of DiVincenzo’s injury and after completing a recent rehab stint in Iowa while recovering from a sprained ankle. Dillingham brought instant energy off the bench in the second quarter with seven points and two assists in eight minutes. The Wolves led by as many as 10, but Cameron Payne prevented them from growing the lead by going on a heater. Payne put up 18 points on 7-for-9 shooting in just seven mintues of playing time to give the Knicks a short-lived 39-37 lead.

Reid also had it going for the Wolves in the first half, as the New Jersey native, whose high school retired his jersey Thursday night, had 16 points and six rebounds in the first half.

When Edwards came back in, he hit four of his next six shots. He ended the first half with 14 points, and the Wolves had a 63-59 lead at the half.

Second half

Both teams cooled off from the outside in the third quarter, which the Knicks won 19-18. They shot a combined 5 for 20 from 3-point range, though Edwards had 11 in the quarter for the Wolves, who carried an 81-78 lead into the fourth.

No timetable on DiVincenzo injury

Finch had no update on how long DiVincenzo will be out.

“It’s a tough one for us,” Finch said. “ He had finally settled in. He looked great, he was playing amazing, doing everything too for us.”

Over his past 15 games, DiVincenzo was shooting 44% from 3-point range and was averaging 15.5 points per game.

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