Wiggins, Butler lead Wolves to rare romp over James, Cavs
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) 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 on 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.
WARRIORS 124, NUGGETS 114
OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) - Stephen Curry scored 32 points and dished out nine assists in another superb performance during his sensational recent stretch, and Golden State avenged an ugly home loss to Denver in late December.
Klay Thompson scored 19 on his bobbblehead night while Draymond Green added a season-high 23 points and 10 assists in the defending NBA champions' fifth straight victory on a night when Kevin Durant sat out his third consecutive game with a strained right calf.
Nikola Jokic had his first triple-double of the season with 22 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists as four players scored 20 points or more for the Nuggets.
Curry had his 12th 30-point game of the season. The two-time MVP has scored 29 or more points in seven straight games.
SPURS 107, KINGS 100
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) - LaMarcus Aldridge had 31 points and 12 rebounds, and San Antonio came back from 13 down in the second half to beat Sacramento despite playing without Kawhi Leonard and Manu Ginobili.
Davis Bertans scored a career-high 28 points on 11-of-15 shooting with six 3-pointers. Patty Mills added 14 points and five assists, and Bryn Forbes scored 12 to help the Spurs to their 12th consecutive win over the Kings.
San Antonio closed on a 10-3 run.
Willie Cauley-Stein had 22 points and nine rebounds for the Kings.
RAPTORS 114, NETS 113, OT
NEW YORK (AP) - DeMar DeRozan scored 35 points, including a go-ahead three-point play with 26.1 seconds left in overtime, and Toronto shook off a late injury to Kyle Lowry to beat Brooklyn.
The Raptors lost a 10-point lead in the final 4 1/2 minutes of regulation and then lost Lowry after a hard fall in OT, but at least won the game, just as they always do against the Nets.
Toronto beat Brooklyn for the 10th straight time and won its fifth in a row overall.
Jonas Valanciunas had 21 points and 13 rebounds for the Raptors. Lowry finished with 18 points and 11 assists, but had to be carried off the court after landing on his lower back while going for a rebound.
Spencer Dinwiddie scored a career-high 31 points for the Nets, but his wild shot on a last drive went over the backboard.
PACERS 109, BUCKS 96
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - Domantas Sabonis had 17 points and 10 rebounds and three of his teammates each scored 15 to lead Indiana past Milwaukee.
Indiana has won two straight since a five-game losing streak. Victor Oladipo, Thaddeus Young and Myles Turner all scored 15 points.
The Bucks were led by Khris Middleton with 19 points and Giannis Antetokoumpo with 17.
It was a complete reversal from the Bucks' 21-point victory over Indiana last week.
This time, the Pacers dominated most of the final 42 minutes by creating turnovers and forcing Milwaukee into bad shots after hitting 18 of their first 25 attempts.
Indiana broke it open by scoring 20 straight points in the first quarter to turn a 15-14 game into a blowout. The Pacers finished the period on a 22-2 spurt to make it 37-16.
ROCKETS 116, BULLS 107
CHICAGO (AP) - Eric Gordon and Chris Paul each had 24 points and nine assists, Gerald Green scored 22 and Houston beat Chicago.
Trevor Ariza hit six 3-pointers and scored 18 to go with nine rebounds. Clint Capela added 15 points and 16 rebounds, and the Rockets won for the third time in 10 games despite blowing a 21-point lead.
Bobby Portis led the Bulls with 22 points. Denzel Valentine and Kris Dunn each scored 19, but Chicago lost for the fifth time in six games.
With NBA scoring leader James Harden missing his fourth consecutive game because of a strained hamstring, the Rockets regained control after falling behind early in the third.
They scored eight straight to stretch a two-point edge to 10 late in the quarter and took an 87-76 lead into the fourth after Green and Paul nailed back-to-back 3s. Houston was in charge the rest of the game.
PELICANS 112, PISTONS 109
NEW ORLEANS (AP) - DeMarcus Cousins scored 16 of his 20 points after Anthony Davis left with an ankle injury in the third quarter, and New Orleans held off Detroit.
Rajon Rondo capped a 12-point, 15-assist performance with two transition layups in the last 1:21 to help secure a victory the Pelicans needed to restore morale after a listless blowout loss in Minnesota over the weekend.
Davis dominated before he left with 4:41 remaining in the third, scoring 30 points and grabbing 10 rebounds in 27 minutes. He walked to the locker room, favoring his right ankle, and never returned.
Cousins, who also had 10 rebounds, picked up the slack, and E'Twaun Moore finished with 23 points.
Tobias Harris scored 25 points and Avery Bradley had 24 for the Pistons, who've lost three of four. Andre Drummond, who missed two of Detroit's previous three games, had 16 points and 14 rebounds.
CLIPPERS 108, HAWKS 107
LOS ANGELES (AP) - C.J. Williams hit a 3-pointer from the left wing with nine seconds left to lift Los Angeles over Atlanta.
Lou Williams led Los Angeles with 34 points but missed a late 3 that was rebounded by Wesley Johnson. He passed the ball out to C.J. Williams for a shot that snapped the Clippers' two-game skid.
Taurean Prince missed a 15-foot jumper with three seconds remaining on Atlanta's last possession.
DeAndre Jordan added 25 points and 18 rebounds as Los Angeles won despite blowing a 13-point lead in the third quarter. The Clippers played without leading scorer Blake Griffin, who suffered a concussion Saturday against Golden State.
Prince scored 20 points and Dennis Schroder added 18 for the Hawks, who lost their fourth straight.
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