NEWS DIGEST – Andrew Wiggins scored a season-high 40 points as the visiting Minnesota Timberwolves beat the Oklahoma City Thunder 119-117 on Tuesday night.
It was Minnesota’s first game under interim Coach Ryan Saunders, who replaced Tom Thibodeau on the bench. Thibodeau was fired on Sunday after the Timberwolves’ home win over the Los Angeles Lakers.
A Minnesota turnover, with 15.5 seconds left, gave the Thunder one last chance, but two Russell Westbrook three-point attempts missed the mark, and Paul George’s desperation put-back went wide to give the Timberwolves their third consecutive win.
The Timberwolves hit 32 of their 40 free throws, with Oklahoma City making just 19 of 26. Wiggins was 16 of 18 from the free throw line.
Nikola Jokic’s fourth triple-double of the season — 29 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists — carried Western Conference-leading Denver to a win over host Miami.
Jokic hit the go-ahead shot from the lane with 2.4 seconds left over the arms of backup centre Bam Adebayo, who played great defence on the sequence. However, Jokic awkwardly floated his shot over Adebayo and hit nothing but net.
Miami still had a chance to tie or go ahead, but Kelly Olynyk’s inbound pass was wild, leading to a turnover — just the Heat’s sixth in the game.
Final scores: Nuggets 103, Heat 99.
Rookie Landry Shamet set career highs with eight three-pointers and 29 points to carry host, Philadelphia, past Washington.
Shamet, whose previous career high was 17 points, knocked down 8 of 14 shots from three-point range to set a Sixers rookie record. His lone miss was from inside the arc.
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Joel Embiid had 20 points and 10 rebounds for his league-leading 35th double-double and ninth in a row. Jimmy Butler added 20 points while Ben Simmons contributed 17 points and nine assists. Furkan Korkmaz scored 16 points.
Final scores 76ers 132, Wizards 115.
Kawhi Leonard made a key steal to set up the go-ahead field goal in the final minute, and he finished with 31 points as Toronto defeated visiting Atlanta.
Kyle Lowry added 16 points for the Raptors, while Pascal Siakam had 13 points and 10 rebounds, OG Anunoby had 14 points and Serge Ibaka 13.
John Collins had 21 points and 14 rebounds for the Hawks, and Jeremy Lin added 20 points. Trae Young had 19 points, Dewayne Dedmon 12 points and nine rebounds and DeAndre’ Bembry 11 points.
Final scores Raptors 104, Hawks 101.
Kelly Oubre Jr. scored a game-high 26 points, gave Phoenix the lead with two free throws with 43.5 seconds remaining, and added a dunk 32 seconds later in a win over visiting Sacramento after trailing by 19 points at halftime.
Ben McLemore matched his season-high point total in the second quarter alone, contributing 11 points to a 40-18 explosion that sent the Kings to a 72-53 halftime advantage.
But the Suns outscored the Kings 33-14 in the third quarter to even it up at 86-86, and finished the game on an 11-2 run after falling behind again by five with just 2:25 to play.
Final scores Suns 115, Kings 111.
Thaddeus Young matched his season best of 26 points and Bojan Bogdanovic added 23 as Indiana held on for a victory over host Cleveland.
Victor Oladipo tallied 17 points as the Pacers won for the 14th time in the past 17 games. Domantas Sabonis added 15 points and nine rebounds and Cory Joseph scored 11 points.
Jordan Clarkson scored 26 points and Alec Burks added 19 as the Cavaliers dropped their 10th consecutive game. Tristan Thompson had 15 points and 13 rebounds, Cedi Osman also scored 15, Collin Sexton had 14 and Cameron Payne scored 10.
Final scores Pacers 123, Cavaliers 115. (Reuters/NAN)
