Rose scores 50 as Wolves play Jazz
▶ Lakers survive Halloween scare
Derrick Rose dusted off his MVP costume, dropping a career-high 50 points to power the Minnesota Timberwolves to a 128-125 win over Utah in a NBA Northwest Division showdown on Wednesday.
On US Halloween night, Rose turned back the clock with a 34-point performance in the second half as the crowd of 10,000 chanted “MVP, MVP” after the final buzzer sounded.
Rose, who was named NBA MVP in 2011 with the Chicago Bulls, scored every way imaginable against the Jazz.
The 30-year-old made two clutch free throws with 13 seconds left to give the Timberwolves a three-point lead in a tightly contested fourth quarter. Just moments earlier he had scored the goahead basket down low to put Minnesota ahead for good.
Rose also made a key block on a Jazz three-point attempt with two seconds left to ice the win.
“This means everything,” said Rose, who was making his first start of the season. “I worked my butt off, bro.”
Rose’s career had been beset by injuries since he won his MVP award. Donovan Mitchell scored 26 points and Rudy Gobert added 22 for Utah. Jae Crowder tallied 18 points off the bench.
In Los Angeles, LeBron James gave the Staples Center crowd a fright when he missed the first of two free throws with two seconds left as the Lakers squeezed past the Dallas Mavericks 114-113.
“It’s Halloween so we had to give the crowd a scare, I guess,” said James.
James finished with 29 points for the Lakers.
In Oakland, Stephen Curry had 37 points for his sixth 30-point game of the season, and the Golden State Warriors beat the New Orleans Pelicans 131-121.
Curry had seven three-pointers and nine assists, Kevin Durant added 24 points and eight assists, and Draymond Green delivered 16 points, 15 rebounds as the Warriors won their sixth straight.
Klay Thompson scored 18 points with one three-pointer for the Warriors two days after setting an NBA record with 14 three pointers in a win over the Chicago Bulls.
Anthony Davis returned from a two-game absence with a sprained right elbow and had 17 points and 12 rebounds for the
Pelicans.