McDaniels leads Wolves to victory, 2-0 lead
Jaden McDaniels scored 25 points for a career best in the playoffs and spearheaded another stifling defensive performance by the Minnesota Timberwolves in a 105-93 victory over the Phoenix Suns to take a 2-0 lead in their first-round series on Tuesday night.
Mike Conley and Rudy Gobert each added 18 points to help the host Timberwolves offset the smothering of Anthony Edwards by the Suns, who held the All-Star to 15 points after allowing him 33 in the opener. Edwards went 3 for 12 from the floor.
The teams head to Phoenix for Game 3 on Friday night. Minnesota has held a 2-0 series lead only one other time in franchise history, against Denver in the first round in 2004 en route to a 4-1 series victory.
Devin Booker scored 20 points, Kevin Durant added 18 and sixth man Eric Gordon had 15 for the Suns, who again failed to get their high-octane offense in gear. The big three of Booker, Durant
and Bradley Beal combined to shoot 18 for 45, with McDaniels leading the list of reasons for the slump. NBA SAYS OFFICIALS MISSED CALLS IN KNICKS' WIN >> Philadelphia's Tyrese Maxey was fouled twice before his turnover that led to the goahead 3-pointer by Donte DiVincenzo in the New York Knicks' victory over the 76ers in Game 2, the NBA determined Tuesday.
In its Last 2 Minutes report, the league also said 76ers coach Nick Nurse twice attempted to call timeouts that were “neither recognized nor granted by the officials” during the possession.
The furious 76ers planned to file a grievance regarding the officiating after falling into a 2-0 hole in the series following the Knicks' 104-101 victory on Monday night. But on Tuesday — speaking on TNT after being revealed as the league's Most Improved Player this season — Maxey offered perspective.
“It is what it is. It happened. We've got to let it go,” Maxey said. “We can't dwell on it now. If we dwell on it, then in a couple days we'll be down 0-3. We don't want to be down 0-3. We know that we can still win this series. We're going to go out there and prove that to everybody, not just ourselves. It starts today, letting that go. And then tomorrow at practice, and when the ball goes up on Thursday be the tougher team — not just physically, but mentally as well.”
JAMES RANTS AT NBA'S REPLAY CENTER AFTER LAKERS LOSS >>
LeBron James was seeing red after the Los Angeles Lakers watched a golden opportunity slip away.
His frustration wasn't so much centered on blowing a 20-point lead. Or his late missed 3-pointer that rimmed out with the game tied. Or Jamal Murray's fadeaway buzzer-beater that gave the Denver Nuggets a 101-99 win over the Lakers in Game 2 of their first-round series Monday night.
James' anger was more distant — the NBA's replay center in Secaucus, New Jersey. At the heart of his wrath was a second-half foul of Michael Porter Jr. that was overturned with the league saying MPJ had made only marginal contact on D'Angelo Russell.
“I don't understand what's going on in the replay center, to be honest,” said James, whose team heads back to Los Angeles for Game 3 on Thursday facing a 2-0 deficit. “D-Lo clearly gets hit in the face on the drive. What the (expletive) do we have a replay center ... it doesn't make sense. It makes no sense. It bothers me.”
JOKIC'S BROTHER REPORTEDLY INVOLVED IN PUNCHING FAN >>
The NBA and Denver police are looking into an incident in which a man reported to be one of the brothers of Denver Nuggets star Nikola Jokic was seen punching a fan after the team's buzzer-beating victory over the Lakers.
In videos shared by TMZ and other outlets, the man is seen climbing over seats to confront another person at Ball Arena, who he then punches in the face. TMZ said the altercation happened on Monday night just after the Nuggets completed their comeback from a 20-point deficit to take a 2-0 lead in the first-round series.
An NBA spokesman said Tuesday that the league is looking into the matter.