Timberwolves’ Reid voted Sixth Man of the Year

Forward-center Naz Reid, who helped the Minnesota Timberwolves overcome an injury to Karl-Anthony Towns to have one of the best seasons in franchise history, was voted the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year on Wednesday.

Reid edged Sacramento’s Malik Monk to become the third undrafted player to win the award for the league's best reserve. Reid averaged career highs of 13.5 points and 5.2 rebounds in 81 games.

Reid came off the bench 67 times and made 14 starts, including 12 when Towns was out late in the season. The Timberwolves finished 56-26 to earn the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference.

Reid got 45 first-place votes to 43 for Monk in a panel of voters. Both players had 39 second-place votes and 10 third-place votes, giving Reid a total of 352 points to Monk's 342.

Philadelphia's Tyrese Maxey won the Most Improved Player award Tuesday. The NBA hasn't yet released the schedule for the other awards.

Haliburton: Brother called racial slur

Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton said a fan directed a racial slur at his younger brother during Game 1 of an Eastern Conference first-round playoff series with the Milwaukee Bucks.

“My little brother in the stands the other day was called an N-word,” Haliburton said after the Pacers’ 125-108 Game 2 victory over the Bucks Tuesday night. “It was important for us as a family to just address that. That was important for us to talk about because that didn’t sit right with anybody in our family. It’s just been important to have my family here right now, and my little brother’s handled that the right way.”

The Bucks were asked about Haliburton's comments after Tuesday's game.

“An arena guest services representative reported that during Sunday’s game a few guests were not sitting in their correct seats,” a Bucks spokesman responded. "The guest services representative asked the group to move one section over to their correct seats. Then, one of the individuals in the group claimed to the representative that a person sitting in front of him had used a derogatory term toward him. The accused person denied the accusation. The group moved to their correct seats and no further incident was reported.

Mavericks spoil Leonard’s return

A rusty Kawhi Leonard had 15 points and seven rebounds in his return for the Los Angeles Clippers, but he couldn't prevent their 96-93 loss to the Dallas Mavericks in their Western Conference first-round playoff series. The Mavs evened the series Tuesday night.

Leonard played 35 minutes in his first game since March 31. He came back after missing three weeks because of right knee inflammation.

“I felt good,” he said. “We still got more games to play and more time to get better. Just keep trying to get a rhythm back.”

Leonard wasn't under a minutes restriction; instead, Tyronn Lue gauged how his superstar forward was feeling throughout. Leonard had not participated in any contact practices going into the playoffs.