NBA roundup: Timberwolves rally from 17 down to shock Jazz

Karl-Anthony Towns scores 24 points as Minnesota Timberwolves beats Utah Jazz in Salt Lake City.

Karl-Anthony Towns scored 24 points with 12 rebounds and the Minnesota Timberwolves rallied from a 17-point deficit to stun the Utah Jazz, 101-96, on Saturday night in Salt Lake City.

Anthony Edwards contributed 23 points with nine boards, five steals and four assists, D’Angelo Russell scored 23 points, and Josh Okogie hit two clutch free throws with 6.2 seconds remaining to seal the upset for Minnesota.

Bojan Bogdanovic scored 30 points, but the Jazz just didn’t have enough offence without injured All-Star Donovan Mitchell (sprained right ankle) while losing for only the fourth time at home in 30 games this season.

Though Utah jumped out to a 40-26 lead and seemed to be en route to an expected win over a team already eliminated from the playoffs, the Jazz only scored 18, 16 and 22 points over the next three quarters.

Knicks 120, Raptors 103

Julius Randle totalled 31 points and 10 rebounds as host New York extended its winning streak to nine games with a victory over Toronto. It is the longest streak for the Knicks (34-27) since winning 13 straight from March 18-April 9, 2013.

R. J. Barrett scored 20 of his 25 points in the second half and collected 12 rebounds for New York. Derrick Rose added 19 points and seven assists and Reggie Bullock chipped in 16. The Knicks shot 56.0 percent, made 16 3-pointers and won their seventh straight home game, earning a standing ovation from the limited capacity crowd.

Bucks 132, 76ers 94

Giannis Antetokounmpo collected 24 points, 14 rebounds and seven assists to lift host Milwaukee over Philadelphia. Antetokounmpo moved into second place in franchise history in points scored (12,023) passing Glenn Robinson (12,010). Antetokounmpo trails only Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (14,211) for top honours on the Bucks.

Bobby Portis added 17 points, Bryn Forbes and Jordan Nwora each had 13 and Jrue Holiday had 12 points and four steals. Pat Connaughton and Donte DiVincenzo contributed 11 points each for the Bucks.

Mavericks 108, Lakers 93

Behind the nifty passing of Luka Doncic, host Dallas came from behind to knock off Los Angeles and tighten the Western Conference postseason picture.

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Doncic finished with 18 points, 13 assists and eight rebounds. Dwight Powell posted a game-high 25 points on 11-of-12 shooting, and added nine rebounds. Dorian Finney-Smith totalled 21 points and seven rebounds for Dallas, which is sixth in the West, 1 1/2 games behind fifth-place Los Angeles.

With Kentavious Caldwell-Pope a late scratch due to a right ankle sprain, Ben McLemore got his first start as a Laker and went 6-for-10 from beyond the arc, finishing with 20 points. Anthony Davis played his second game since missing 20 with a right calf strain and tallied 17 points in 28 minutes. However, he shot just 5-for-19 from the field.

Pacers 115, Pistons 109

Malcolm Brogdon had 26 points and Caris LeVert finished with 25 points to lead short-handed Indiana to a comeback win at home against Detroit. Indiana won its second consecutive game overall and at home and pulled to within one game behind the Charlotte Hornets for the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference.

Jerami Grant led the Pistons with 25 points, adding five rebounds and four assists and Mason Plumlee totaled 17 points and 21 rebounds as Detroit outrebounded Indiana 62-39 and still lost.

Heat 106, Bulls 101

Duncan Robinson scored a team-high 23 points and Jimmy Butler scored nine of his 20 points in the fourth quarter as host Miami held on to defeat Chicago. Miami led by as many as 24 points before Chicago cut its deficit to three points with 7:09 left in the fourth quarter. But the Bulls didn't get any closer until a Coby White dunk with 15.8 seconds left cut Miami's lead to 103-101.

 

Chicago was led by Nikola Vucevic, who had 26 points, a game-high 14 rebounds and a team-high six assists. In 33 career games against Miami, he has 19 double-doubles, including eight out of the past nine. White added a game-high 31 points for the Bulls.

Spurs 110, Pelicans 108

DeMar DeRozan scored 11 of his 32 points in the fourth quarter and San Antonio held off host New Orleans.

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Derrick White added 22 points, Keldon Johnson had 14 and Dejounte Murray 11 as the ninth-place Spurs (30-29) increased their lead over 11th-place New Orleans (26-34) in the battle for a spot in the Western Conference play-in tournament.

The victory also gave San Antonio the head-to-head tiebreaker, as it won the season series 2-1. Zion Williamson had 33 points and 14 rebounds and Lonzo Ball and Brandon Ingram scored 24 each for the Pelicans.

Nuggets 129, Rockets 116

Michael Porter Jr. established career bests of 39 points and eight 3-pointers to help Denver cruise to a victory over visiting Houston.

Nikola Jokic recorded 24 points, 12 assists and eight rebounds as Denver (39-21) won for the 13th time in their past 16 games. P. J. Dozier scored a career-best 23 points on 10-of-13 shooting and JaMychal Green had 10 points for the Nuggets.

D. J. Wilson scored a career-best 25 points for Houston, which lost for the ninth time in the past 10 games and 36th in the last 40.