Wiggins, T-Wolves cool off Raptors
MINNESOTA 117 TORONTO 112
MINNEAPOLIS — The Toronto Raptors were rolling, beating up on a young Minnesota team when maybe, just maybe, their thoughts drifted to the party that awaits them back home this weekend.
That’s when the Timberwolves pounced, and a Canadian star and his fellow No. 1 overall draft pick delivered a stunning comeback.
Karl-Anthony Towns had 35 points and 11 rebounds, and Toronto-born Andrew Wiggins scored 13 of his 26 in the fourth quarter to rally the Timberwolves from 18 points down to a 117-112 victory Wednesday night.
Ricky Rubio had 19 points, eight assists and eight rebounds to outplay All-Star guard Kyle Lowry, and the Wolves used a huge advantage at the free throw line to close out a team that had won 14 of its last 15 games.
The Wolves have lost five games this season when leading by at least 17 points. They trailed by 18 in the second quarter and flipped that script.
“We got back in the locker room and just talked among ourselves and found out what we needed to do,” Wiggins said. “We found out what was working and we kept doing it.”
Minnesota set season highs with 43 free throws made on 53 attempts on the way to its largest comeback win of the season. The Raptors were whistled for 34 fouls compared to 21 for the Wolves.
DeMar DeRozan scored 35 points for the Raptors, who head home to host all-star weekend beginning on Friday night. But Lowry was held to 14 points and seven assists while battling foul trouble, and the combination of Wiggins and Towns was too much down the stretch.
“We’re not good enough to come out and throw our press clippings or our record on the court and not perform,” Toronto coach Dwane Casey said.
The Raptors appeared to be cruising toward a highly anticipated weekend in Canada when they raced out to an 18-point lead in the second quarter. Then Lowry picked up his fourth foul, Jonas Valanciunas couldn’t handle Towns in the paint and the Timberwolves came all the way back to grab the lead early in the fourth quarter.
“They’re just another team to me,” Wiggins said when asked if there was something special about beating the team he grew up watching. “Another team to beat.”
Casey emphasized before the game the need for a veteran group to hold it together for one more night before the party starts in Toronto. The Raptors were facing a Timberwolves team with the third-worst record in the West that was just blown out by lowly New Orleans in this building two nights prior.
When the Raptors got up big early, they might have relaxed a little bit and they found themselves in a fight for the final 9 minutes.
Rubio’s third three-pointer gave the Timberwolves a 104-98 lead with 5:24 to play.
The Raptors fought back to tie the game with under 3 minutes to play, but Wiggins hit big shot after big shot a day before heading back to his hometown to play in the Rising Stars Challenge on Friday night.
“We’ll see them again,” Lowry said.
The Timberwolves improved to 17-37, one more win than they had last season.
“We’re going in the right direction,” Wiggins said. “We have the right pieces. We have all the talent. Now we just need to put everything together.”
Cavaliers 120, Lakers 111
CLEVELAND — Kobe Bryant’s final game in Cleveland was reduced to a sideshow when Cavaliers forward Kevin Love re-injured his surgically repaired left shoulder in the first half of a 120-111 win over the Los Angeles Lakers.
Kyrie Irving scored a seasonhigh 35 points and LeBron James 29 for the Cavs, who head into the all-star break with one of their “Big 3” injured.
Love quickly left the floor late in the second quarter after he got hurt while working in the post against Bryant. He did not return in the second half, and the Cavs did not provide any specifics about his injury.
Bryant finished with 17 points in his last performance in Cleveland. Lou Williams scored 28 to lead the Lakers, who have dropped 13 of 15.
Bryant’s farewell in Quicken Loans Arena became secondary to Cavs fans when Love hustled off the floor with 46.5 seconds to play in the first half, his left arm dangling to his side. He yelled toward Cleveland’s bench “it’s my shoulder” before heading into the tunnel and straight to the lockerroom with medical personnel and GM David Griffin following him.