Gobert, Conley lead Wolves past Blazers
Rudy Gobert had 25 points and 16 rebounds for his 43rd double-double of the season, Michael Conley added 19 points and seven assists, and the Minnesota Timberwolves completed a four-game season sweep of Portland, beating the Trail Blazers 119114 Monday (Tuesday in Manila).
With the win, Minnesota (4319) moved into first place in the Western Conference ahead of Oklahoma City (42-19). The Timberwolves are an NBA-best 30-9 against Western Conference opponents, 20-5 against teams with a less than .500 record and 23-8 at Target Center, for the league’s fifth-best home record.
Karl-Anthony Towns scored 14 points, Anthony Edwards had 13, and Naz Reid added 12 points on 4-for-4 shooting from 3-point distance for Minnesota, which was playing its fifth game in seven nights and completed a seven-game homestand with a 4-3 record.
Anfernee Simons had 34 points, 14 assists and five rebounds, and Duop Reath shot 5 for 6 from long distance and scored 26 points for Portland, which was playing its third game in four nights.
Bucks 113, Clippers 106
In Milwaukee, Damian Lillard scored 41 points and Milwaukee overcame the absence of Giannis Antetokounmpo to rally past Los Angeles for their sixth straight victory.
Antetokounmpo missed just his third game of the season.
The Bucks are unbeaten since the All-Star break as they get ready to begin a four-game trip to California.
Bobby Portis scored 14 of his 28 points in the fourth quarter and finished with a season-high 16 rebounds. Patrick Beverley added 12 points and sparked the winning rally.
James Harden and Paul George scored 29 points each for the Clippers. Kawhi Leonard added 16 points.
Grizzlies 106, Nets 102
In New York, Luke Kennard scored a season-high 25 points and Memphis snapped a five-game losing streak by beating Brooklyn.
Jake LaRavia added 14 points and 10 rebounds for the Grizzlies, who outrebounded the Nets 50-33 and piled up 25 second-chance points to make up for all the offense they are missing because of injuries. Lamar Stevens chipped in 13 points.
Nic Claxton had 21 points for the Nets, who were coming off consecutive victories over Atlanta that had allowed them to pull within two games of the Hawks for 10th place in the Eastern Conference and the final spot in the play-in tournament. But leading scorer Mikal Bridges, who had 38 points in Saturday’s victory, was 4 for 14 Monday and had just 14 points.