MINNEAPOLIS -- Ricky Rubio had heard his name enough in trade rumors and admitted that the constant buzz was something that wore on him. The consistent smile from the Spaniard isn't as present as it was in his early years with the Minnesota Timberwolves.

The grin reappeared momentarily after he was grabbed by Karl-Anthony Towns during a postgame interview on Monday, with Towns dumping some type of liquid on Rubio's head from a small cup.

Minnesota is learning the importance of Rubio's presence as the Timberwolves try to snap their long postseason drought.

Rubio continued his impressive stretch with 22 points, and broke his own franchise record with 19 assists as the Timberwolves pulled away late for a 119-104 win against the Washington Wizards.

"He almost single-handedly won us this game tonight," Towns said. "So, we just picked up with any pieces he could give us. It felt like mostly the puzzle was already done, with the way he played. And we were just one piece of the whole thing."

Towns scored 17 points in the fourth quarter on the way to 39 points and 13 rebounds for Minnesota, reserve Nemanja Bjelica had his fourth double-double in his last seven games with 16 points and 10 rebounds.

The Timberwolves (28-38) have won eight of their past 12 games and have beat the Los Angeles Clippers, Golden State Warriors and Washington in their past three home games.

"It feels great," Rubio said. "We're playing great basketball. We're playing against great teams right now. We're competing and not just competing, we're winning games. That's what this team was supposed to do. But it's a great feeling when you go out there and you know you can beat everybody."

John Wall had 27 points for the Wizards (41-25), who had won five games in a row, including four on the road. Bradley Beal scored 20 points but shot just 7 of 21. Washington had won 11 of its previous 13 road games.

"We didn't have our best stuff offensively, we didn't have our best stuff defensively, but give them credit they played well," Wizards coach Scott Brooks said. "They made a lot of shots, they moved the ball well, Rubio was throwing the ball all over the place to their shooters and they were scoring."

The Wizards never led after a torrid start by Rubio and Minnesota. Washington got as close as six points in the fourth quarter, but the Timberwolves closed out another NBA power at home. Washington entered play second in the Eastern Conference.

Minnesota has done so by showing more composure and maturity as one of the league's youngest teams developing under first-year coach Tom Thibodeau. The Timberwolves have started to play the defensive style sought by Thibodeau and Rubio is thriving.

Minnesota is also winning, a rare occurrence in Rubio's six seasons with the team. The Timberwolves started the night 3.5 games out of a playoff spot in the Western Conference.

Rubio broke his own franchise record by two assists. He has double-digit assists in 11 of his last 14 games. He outplayed Chris Paul and Stephen Curry in the two wins last week against the Clippers and Warriors and went head-to-head with Wall on Monday.

"He's one of the best passers in the league," said Bjelica, who admitted to being so surprised by one half court-length bounce pass from Rubio that he nearly turned it into a turnover. "It's a very important thing that we are winning games at home. It was a big problem last year, so now we are good."

Minnesota stayed poised last week in beating the Clippers and Warriors by responding each time they would close in on the Wolves' advantage. With the Wizards playing their fifth game in seven days, Minnesota answered another challenge.

The Timberwolves led by as many as 21 in the first as Rubio had nine points and 10 assists.

Washington has had trouble in the first and was down double-digits for the fifth time in six games. The Wizards had won four of the previous five games in that circumstance.

"We had chances," Wall said. "It was just one of those games where we'd cut it to six, they hit shots and we missed shots. We've got to live with the results. We fought hard, had great looks and opportunities to come back and try and make it a game. Those shots didn't fall this time."

NOTES: Minnesota PG Ricky Rubio had 10 assists in the first quarter, tying a franchise record for assists in a quarter and becoming just the second player in the NBA this season to have 10 in a quarter. Los Angeles' Chris Paul had 10 in the third quarter in a game against New Orleans on Dec. 10. ... The Timberwolves don't play at Boston until Wednesday, but the team was going to fly out immediately after the game to avoid issues with the snow storm expected to hit the East Coast. ... The game featured the two reigning conference players of the week. Washington PG John Wall averaged 29.8 points, 11.3 assists and 1.5 assists per game to lead the Wizards to four road victories in five nights. Minnesota C Karl-Anthony Towns was named the Western Conference Player of the Week after averaging 29.0 points, 12.3 rebounds and 1.3 blocks in three games. ... Washington returns home to host the Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday.