MINNEAPOLIS -- Coach Steve Clifford doesn't often get fiery or enraged when he's addressing his Charlotte Hornets team.

When Clifford gets mad, the Hornets know to listen closely because he's upset and means business. Clifford's message got through to his team at halftime on Tuesday night.

Kemba Walker scored 30 points and Nicolas Batum added 16 to key Charlotte's second-half comeback in a 115-108 victory against the Minnesota Timberwolves.

"He picked the right moment," Walker said. "And I was actually excited that he did it because it put some fire in us, and we came out strong."

The Hornets trailed by 12 at halftime and were outrebounded 28-14 by Minnesota in the first half. After Clifford's halftime rallying cry, Charlotte shot 65.8 percent in the second half, outrebounded the Timberwolves 23-15 and scored 30 points in the paint to eight for Minnesota and held the Timberwolves to 34.9 percent shooting.

"(Clifford) doesn't like to talk to us that way and, obviously, we knew if he gets to that point, we look pretty bad out there," Hornets forward Marvin Williams said. "One thing, guys really came out and just tried to compete out there that second half."

Frank Kaminsky came off the bench to score 20 points and hit three 3-pointers for Charlotte (7-3), which had lost back-to-back games against Toronto and Cleveland.

Andrew Wiggins scored 29 points for Minnesota (3-7). The Timberwolves hit 15 3-pointers but had 18 turnovers resulting in 20 points for the Hornets.

"A big part of learning is trial and error," Minnesota coach Tom Thibodeau said. "So, when you go through something and it doesn't work, you should learn from it. The second time around, it shouldn't be the same way. That has to change. That has to change and it has to change fast."

The Timberwolves led 58-46 at halftime but the third quarter has been their downfall this season, while Charlotte has thrived out of the break.

The Hornets entered the game with the league's best third-quarter scoring differential at plus-7.1 points. Minnesota was last at minus-8. The Timberwolves' 12-point advantage quickly faded as the trends held.

Charlotte opened the quarter with a 15-2 run to take their first lead since the end of the first quarter. Batum scored 11 in the third and Walker added 10 points as the Hornets outscored Minnesota by 19 in the period.

The Timberwolves stayed within striking distance in the fourth behind Wiggins and Karl-Anthony Towns, who finished with 21 points. Minnesota tried to keep their luck going from outside, but went 5 of 12 from 3 in the fourth.

"We all work hard," Towns said. "You've got to look at yourself in the mirror. It starts with me. I've got to play better. I have to do more than I'm doing and I can't make excuses; just have to go out there and play better."

Walker's standout season continued even after he left the game following the first quarter because his back tightened up. He scored 12 of the Hornets' 31 points in the first. He went back to the locker room with the team's training staff to stretch out his back and returned later in the second.

Walker made 12 of 19 shots in scoring at least 20 points for the ninth straight game. He had six assists to surpass 2,000 in his career and added five steals and five rebounds.

"He was great," Clifford said.

NOTES: Timberwolves G Zach LaVine returned to the starting lineup after missing one game with a sore right knee and scored 19 points. ... Minnesota F Shabazz Muhammad (sore right knee) missed his second straight game and G/F Brandon Rush (sprained right big toe) was held out of his third straight contest. ... Hornets associate head coach Patrick Ewing missed his second straight game due to illness, according to the team's PR Twitter account. ... Over the previous four games, Minnesota averaged 115.8 points per game and was shooting 46 percent from 3-point range, the best four-game run in team history. ... Timberwolves C Karl-Anthony Towns turned 21 years old Tuesday. Only Dwight Howard (105) and Andre Drummond (66) had more career double-doubles before turning 21 than Towns' 57. ... Charlotte started the night fourth in the league in defensive field goal percentage at 43 percent and defensive 3-point percentage at 31.9 percent.