Towns, Rubio carry T-Wolves past Thunder
MINNEAPOLIS — Karl Anthony Towns had 29 points and 17 rebounds and Ricky Rubio added 14 points and 14 assists to help Minnesota beat Oklahoma City 96-86 for its third straight victory.
Andrew Wiggins scored 19 points and Brandon Rush had 11 for the Timberwolves, They have won three in a row for the first time all season. The improving Timberwolves defense held the Thunder to 38.8 percent shooting and scored 33 points off of 19 Oklahoma City turnovers.
Russell Westbrook had 21 points, 12 assists and 11 rebounds for his 19th tripledouble of the season. But he also had 10 turnovers in Oklahoma City’s first loss in four games. Enes Kanter had 21 points and eight rebounds for the Thunder.
• Grizzlies 110, Rockets 105 — At Houston: Tony Allen scored a season-high 22 points, Mike Conley added 17 and Memphis overcame a 15-point, third-quarter deficit to beat Houston.
Memphis led by two late in the fourth quarter before scoring the next five points, capped by a 3-pointer by Troy Daniels, to make it 110103 with 26 seconds left. A dunk by James Harden came next, but Houston missed two shots after that to allow the Grizzlies to hold on for their third victory in four games.
• 76ers 102, Hornets 93 — At Philadelphia: Joel Embiid scored 24 points, blocked three shots and led Philadelphia past Charlotte for its third straight victory.
The Sixers have their first three-game winning streak since winning four straight in 2013-14. Led by Embiid, the 76ers have won five of six games overall to improve to 12-25.
• Celtics 103, Hawks 101 — At Atlanta: Isaiah Thomas hit a jumper with 2 seconds left and scored 28 points, Al Horford made a triumphant return and Boston snapped Atlanta’s seven-game winning streak.
• Raptors 132, Nets 113 — At Toronto: DeMar DeRozan scored 28 points, Kyle Lowry added 20 and Toronto had its highest-scoring game of the season and handed Brooklyn its ninth straight loss.
• Magic 115, Trail Blazers 109 — At Portland, Ore. — Nikola Vucevic scored a season-high 30 points and Orlando beat Portland to snap a four-game losing streak.
• Bucks 116, Heat 108 — At Milwaukee: Jabari Parker had 24 points and Giannis Antetokounmpo added 19 to help Milwaukee beat Miami.
• Jazz 110, Pistons 77 — At Salt Lake City: Rodney Hood was 7 of 8 from 3-point range and scored a seasonhigh 27 points in Utah’s victory over Detroit.