Derrick Rose hits game-winner for Timberwolves against Suns; Pacers cruise past Hornets
Monday 21 January 2019 07:06, UK
Tobias Harris poured in 27 points and was just an assist and a rebound short of a triple-double as the visiting Los Angeles Clippers held on for victory against the San Antonio Spurs.
Tobias Harris poured in 27 points and was just an assist and a rebound short of a triple-double as the visiting Los Angeles Clippers held on for victory against the San Antonio Spurs on Sunday night.
Patrick Beverley added 18 points and grabbed 12 rebounds to help secure a win that snapped a season-worst five-game losing streak for the Clippers, who controlled the game even without injured stars sixth man Lou Williams and forward Danilo Gallinari.
The Spurs clawed to within 84-79 on Rudy Gay's layup with 9:40 to play but Los Angeles would not allow San Antonio to get any closer.
The Clippers rebuilt their lead to 94-83 on Harris' three-pointer with 5:19 remaining and never looked back.
San Antonio, who brought a two-game winning streak into the game, lost for the second straight time at home.
Montrezl Harrell added 18 points for the Clippers, with Avery Bradley scoring 15 (all in the first half), and Johnathan Motley hitting for 10 points off the bench for Los Angeles.
LaMarcus Aldridge led all scorers with 30 points and pulled down a game-high 14 rebounds for the Spurs. Gay racked up 19 points and Marco Belinelli contributed 12 for San Antonio in the loss.
The Spurs, who lead the league in free-throw percentage at 82 percent, made just 9 of 17 in the game (52.9 per cent).
Derrick Rose buried a game-winning jumper with nine-tenths of a second remaining to secure a much-needed victory for the Minnesota Timberwolves over the Phoenix Suns.
The Timberwolves trailed 110-106 before Rose capped a 31-point performance by scoring eight of Minnesota's final 10 points over the closing 3:25.
The game-winner came after Taj Gibson stole the ball from Devin Booker with 25 seconds to go when the Suns had a chance to break a 114-all tie.
The game was tightly contested all the way, with the Timberwolves clinging to a 106-102 lead after a Jerryd Bayless 3-pointer with 7:35 to go before the Suns ran out eight straight points to grab a four-point advantage of their own.
Booker, Jamal Crawford and Dragan Bender had hoops in the burst. Rose ended the Minnesota drought with a layup and converted a three-point play on the next possession to narrow the gap, then got the Timberwolves even at 114-all with 30.5 seconds left by making one of two free throws, setting up the exciting finish.
Rose hit 12 of his 24 shots en route to his game-high point total for the Timberwolves, who snapped a two-game losing streak.
Karl Anthony-Towns shot 13 for 13 from the free throw line in a 30-point, 12-rebound double-double for Minnesota, while Gibson finished with 17 points and Andrew Wiggins 10.
T.J. Warren had a team-high 21 points for the Suns, who completed a winless four-game trip with two losses in two days after falling to Charlotte on Saturday.
Bender notched a 12-point, 10-rebound double-double for Phoenix and Booker had 18 points to go with six rebounds and six assists, while Kelly Oubre Jr. (18 points), Josh Jackson (15) and Crawford (11) also scored in double figures.
Victor Oladipo scored 21 points as the Indiana Pacers rolled to a comfortable victory over the Charlotte Hornets.
The Pacers jumped out to a 16-point lead in the first quarter, led by 15 at halftime, and stayed in control the rest of the game.
Charlotte got as close as five briefly in the third quarter, and then the Pacers pulled back out to lead by as many as 27 down the stretch.
The Pacers won their second straight and avenged a 127-109 loss at Charlotte in November. The Pacers have now won 18 of their last 23 games and continue to have the third-best record (31-15) in the Eastern Conference.
The Hornets had a three-game winning streak snapped. They were looking for their first four-game winning streak of the season.
Oladipo, the Pacers' leading scorer, had his first 20-point performance in the past two weeks. The Pacers also got 19 points from Darren Collison, 16 apiece from Bojan Bogdanovic and Domantas Sabonis, and 14 from Tyreke Evans.
Kemba Walker led the Hornets with 23 points and seven assists. Malik Monk scored 11, Bismack Biyombo had 10 points and 12 rebounds, and Jeremy Lamb also scored 10. The Hornets struggled offensively all night, finishing at 40.2 per cent from the field.
