Edwards propels Wolves, who lose Towns
Anthony Edwards matched his season high with 44 points, made a tiebreaking 3-pointer with 1:11 remaining and came up with a spectacular block at the buzzer to give the shorthanded Minnesota Timberwolves a 113-111 victory over the Indiana Pacers on Thursday night.
Edwards soared to reject a last-second layup by the Pacers' Aaron Nesmith, hitting his head on the rim as the buzzer sounded. He yelled, flexed his muscles and chest-bumped Rudy Gobert in celebration.
Gobert added 18 points and 14 rebounds for the Timberwolves, who played without All-Star Karl-Anthony Towns. Minnesota moved into the top spot in the Western Conference, one-half game ahead of Oklahoma City.
After the game, the team revealed that Towns will have surgery next week to address a meniscus tear in his left knee.
The All-Star will miss at least four weeks, the team said. That would mean, at minimum, Towns will be sidelined for at least 13 more games — the majority of Minnesota's remaining regular-season schedule.
Pascal Siakam scored 24 points and Tyrese Haliburton added 23 points and 13 assists for the Pacers.
MAVERICKS 114, HEAT 108 >>
Luka Doncic had 35 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists to become the second NBA player to record five consecutive 30-point triple-doubles, and host Dallas rallied past Miami.
Doncic matched Russell Westbrook, who had five consecutive 30-point tripledoubles in 2017 for Oklahoma City. The All-Star, who leads the league in scoring, also became the first player in history with four straight 35-point triple-doubles.
Terry Rozier had 27 points and 11 assists for the Heat in his highest-scoring game since being acquired from Charlotte in late January.
SUNS 120, RAPTORS 113 >>
Kevin Durant scored 35 points, Grayson Allen added 26 and host Phoenix beat the Toronto. Bradley Beal had 20 points and eight assists for the Suns, who never trailed. Durant shot 11 of 19 from the field while Allen did all of his scoring in the first half, setting a franchise record with seven 3-pointers in the first quarter.
Gary Trent Jr. led the Raptors with 30 points. Immanuel Quickley added 21 points and 17 assists, while RJ Barrett scored 23.
BULLS 125, WARRIORS 122 >>
DeMar DeRozan converted a three-point play with 26 seconds left after hitting a key jumper at the 43-second mark on his way to 33 points, and visiting Chicago beat Golden State after the Warriors' Steph Curry limped off and went to the locker room in the closing minutes. Klay Thompson put the Warriors ahead on a 3-pointer with 40 seconds left before DeRozan delivered again in Chicago's third straight victory.
Curry exited with 3:51 to play having scored 15 points, while Thompson finished with 25 points.
Nikola Vucevic had 33 points, 11 rebounds and five assists for the Bulls.
KINGS 131, SPURS 129 >>
Domantas Sabonis scored 31 points, including the goahead dunk with 7.7 seconds remaining, and host Sacramento beat San Antonio. Sabonis added 17 rebounds and nine assists, posting his 45th straight double-double.
De'Aaron Fox scored 17 of his 33 points in the fourth quarter for the Kings before fouling out in the final minute.
The Spurs were without leading scorer Victor Wembanyama due to a sprained right ankle. Devin Vassell led San Antonio with 30 points and nine assists.
NUGGETS 115, CELTICS 109 >>
Nikola Jokic recorded his 20th triple-double of the season and host Denver withstood a furious fourthquarter surge by Boston. Jokic had 32 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists, several of them on alley-oops to Aaron Gordon, and Jamal Murray added 19 points and eight assists.
Jaylen Brown scored a season-high 41 points and had 14 rebounds for the Celtics, who hadn't lost consecutive games since early November.
PISTONS 118, NETS 112 >>
Jaden Ivey scored 34 points and Cade Cunningham had 32 points and 11 assists to lead Detroit to its first home win since January, beating Brooklyn, which announced that Ben Simmons will miss the remainder of the season, the third straight year the former All-Star's season has ended early because of back problems.