WOLVES PUT CAVS TO THE SWORD
Minnesota upstage King James and Co, Warriors and Raptors win
The Minnesota Timberwolves humbled LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers on Monday, leading by as many as 41 points en route to a 127-99 triumph in Minneapolis.
Andrew Wiggins scored 25 points to pace a Timberwolves team that led from start to finish against a Cavs team that went to the last three NBA Finals, winning the title two seasons ago.
Karl-Anthony Towns — the only Timberwolves starter to play in the fourth quarter — added 19 points with 12 rebounds and Wolves forward Taj Gibson added another double-double of 16 points and 13 rebounds.
Jimmy Butler flirted with a triple-double, amassing 21 points with nine assists and eight rebounds while playing a key role in limiting four-time NBA Most Valuable Player James to 10 points, eight rebounds and five assists.
James and the rest of the Cavs starters also sat out the fourth quarter — although for Isaiah Thomas that absence came courtesy of his third-quarter ejection.
Thomas was tossed when he reached out toward a driving Wiggins and caught the Minnesota forward under the chin.
Assessed a flagrant-2 foul, Thomas was immediately ejected, although he said he was merely reaching in for a steal.
Thomas was playing his third game for the Cavs after a hip injury had sidelined him since he joined the team in a preseason trade.
The Cavaliers fell to 26-14.
They’re third in the Eastern Conference behind Thomas’s former team, the Boston Celtics, and the Toronto Raptors — who edged the Nets 114-113 in over-time in a bruising encounter in Brooklyn.
DeMar DeRozan’s 35 points included a three-point play with 26.1 seconds remaining in over-time that put the Raptors up 114-113.
The reigning champion Golden State Warriors shook off an injury scare for superstar Stephen Curry to beat the Denver Nuggets 124-114 in Oakland, California.
Curry left the game briefly after a hard fall, but returned with his left knee taped to score 32 points.
Warriors forward Draymond Green scored 23 points with 10 assists and five rebounds and guard Klay Thompson chipped in 19 points as Golden State again coped admirably with the absence of Kevin Durant, who missed his third straight game with a strained right calf.
In Los Angeles, C.J. Williams drained the game-winning three-pointer with 9/1 seconds left to lift the Clippers to a 108-107 victory over the Atlanta Hawks.
In New Orleans, the Pelicans held on for a 112-109 victory over the Detroit Pistons despite losing star forward Anthony Davis to a sprained right ankle in the third quarter.
The Houston Rockets, without NBA leading scorer James Harden for a fourth straight game, drained 20 three-pointers in their 116-107 victory over the Bulls in Chicago. AFP