Wolves romp over James, Cavs
09 Jan 2018
MINNEAPOLIS — Andrew Wiggins had 25 points in three quarters, Jimmy Butler pitched in 21 points and tight defense on LeBron James, and the Minnesota Timberwolves cruised to a 127-99 victory over Cleveland Monday night that stopped a 12-game home losing streak to the Cavaliers.
Karl-Anthony Towns (19 points, 12 rebounds) and Taj Gibson (16 points, 13 rebounds) were tenacious around the basket for the Timberwolves, who outrebounded the Cavs 56-37 and had a 60-42 advantage in points in the paint.
James had just 10 points on 4-for-8 Shooting, taking his first loss at Minnesota since Feb. 17, 2005. Cleveland fell behind by as much as 41 points in the third quarter after a dunk by Wiggins.
Butler had plenty to do with that, contributing nine assists and eight rebounds before resting during the fourth quarter, too. The Wolves led 69-42 at halftime.
Jeff Green scored 22 points off the bench to lead the Cavs, who’ve lost six of their last nine.
Pelicans 112, Pistons 109: Anthony Davis scored a game-high 30 points before being sidelined by an injured ankle in the third quarter and the New Orleans Pelicans held on to defeat the Detroit Pistons.
Davis made 12 of 14 shots and grabbed 10 rebounds in 27 minutes before being injured. There was no immediate prognosis. E-Twaun Moore scored 23 points for the Pelicans and DeMarcus Cousins scored 15 of his 20 points in the fourth quarter and finished with 10 rebounds. Jrue Holiday scored 14 points and Rajon Rondo had 12 points and 15 assists.
Tobias Harris led Detroit with 25 points, Avery Bradley scored 24, Andre Drummond had 16 points and 14 rebounds, Ish Smith scored 16 and Reggie Bullock and Dwight Buycks scored 10 each.
Clippers 108, Hawks 107: C.J. Williams canned a 3-pointer with 9.1 seconds left as Los Angeles rallied to hand Atlanta its latest loss, 108-107 in Los Angeles.
It capped a rally from a 105-100 deficit that saw the Hawks playing percentages, opting to foul DeAndre Jordan on the Clippers’ next two possessions. But Jordan, a notoriously terrible foul shooter who has improved to 60.6 percent this season, drained four straight free throws to pull Los Angeles (18-21) within a point.
Warriors 124, Nuggets 114: Stephen Curry contributed 32 points and nine assists and Golden State avenged their worst offensive showing this season by beating Denver, 124-114.
Draymond Green had 23 points and 10 assists and Klay Thompson scored 19 points as Golden State won its fifth straight game and improved its NBA-best record to 33-8. The Warriors shot 56.5 percent from the field despite being without forward Kevin Durant for the third straight game due to a calf injury.
Spurs 107, Kings 100: LaMarcus Aldridge had 31 points and 12 rebounds and Davis Bertans enjoyed a career night as San Antonio rallied to a 107-100 victory over host Sacramento.
Bertans established career highs of 28 points and six 3-pointers as San Antonio recovered from a 13-point deficit. Bertans was 11-of-15 Shooting, including 6-of-9 from 3-point range. Willie Cauley-Stein had 22 points and nine rebounds for the Kings.
Pacers 109, Bucks 96: Domantas Sabonis scored 17 points to lead seven Indiana players in double figures in a 109-96 win over Milwaukee at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.
Sabonis, who came off the bench, hit 8 of 12 shots and grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds.
Rockets 116, Bulls 107: Eric Gordon scored 13 of his 24 points in the first quarter to help Houston take a big early lead and coasted to its second win in four games without James Harden in the lineup. Chris Paul also finished with 24 points in the victory.
Bobby Portis had 22 points off the bench to lead Chicago, which fell to 3-21 without Nikola Mirotic in the lineup.
Raptors 114, Nets 113 (OT): DeMar DeRozan scored 35 points and converted the tiebreaking 3-point play with 26.1 seconds left in overtime as Toronto blew a 10-point lead late in the fourth quarter, but outlasted Brooklyn in overtime at Barclays Center in New York.
DeRozan missed a 23-foot jumper as time expired in regulation and four of his first five shots of overtime. The shooting guard capped a 14-of-30 performance with a 13-footer with 89 seconds left and then made the game-winning 3-point play. — Agencies