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NBA Tuesday recap: Timberwolves stun Warriors at Oracle arena, Kawhi Leonard sinks winner over Jazz

Karl Anthony Towns and Ricky Rubio were crucial in the Timberwolves win over the Warriors

Minnesota Timberwolves 124-117 Golden State Warriors (OT)

Despite a loss last Friday against the Boston Celtics, the Golden State Warriors were still confident about beating the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls record of 72 wins. A game against the Minnesota Timberwolves was considered a done deal but the Wolves had other ideas.

Minnesota spoil the party, claim a win in the Bay and hand the Warriors their second loss in the last three games, the first such instance this season. 

Prior to the game, the Warriors were 6-0 in overtime games this season, that record changed last night. However, the game should not have gone to overtime in the first place as the Warriors led by eight points heading into final period and by 17 points at one stage.

Stephen Curry with 21 points, 15 assists uncharacteristically had a rough shooting night knocking down only 7 of 25 shot attempts. Draymond Green as usual filled the stat with 12 points, 9 assists, 6 rebounds, 3 steals and 2 blocks but was fouled out of the game very early in overtime.

For the Timberwolves, Shabazz Muhammad was huge off the bench scoring a career high 35 points in 38 minutes on 9 of 12 shooting. Andrew Wiggins had an all round game of 32 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists and 6 steals while double double machine Karl Anthony Towns recorded another one with 20 points, 12 rebounds and 4 assists.

The biggest advantage Minnesota had was scoring the first six points in overtime, something they never let slip away.

The Warriors have to now go 4-0 in their remaining games to break the Bulls record and go 3-1 to tie the 72-10 record. Their remaining games include two against the Minnesota Timberwolves and two against the San Antonio Spurs.

Cleveland Cavaliers 109-80 Milwaukee Bucks

The Cleveland Cavaliers made short work of the Milwaukee Bucks on the road as no starter played more than 28 minutes for the Cavs. In his 28 minutes, LeBron James registered 17 points, 9 assists and 5 rebounds helping the team practically wrap up the game by halftime with a lead of 24 points.

James believes the Cavaliers are clicking at the right time and picking up much needed momentum heading into the Playoffs. J.R. Smith with his seven three pointers broke the Cavaliers record for most three pointers in a single season (192), currently standings at 197. The Cavaliers team has a whole knocked down 18 three’s at an outstanding percentage of 50%, tying a Warriors streak:

For the Bucks, the young starters continued to spend time on the court despite the blowout. Giannis Antetokounmpo led the way with 22 points, 14 rebounds and 8 assists. 

San Antonio Spurs 88-86 Utah Jazz

Bad shooting night? So what, Kawhi Leonard shot 4 of 13 before knocking down a cold blooded game winner over Gordon Hayward with 4 seconds to go. Leonard finished the game with 18 points and 8 rebounds as the Spurs extended their franchise record for most wins in a single season to 64 last night.

Last night’s win was also huge for Tim Duncan, who joined Kareem Abdul Jabbar and Robert Parish to be the only players to have 1000 wins under their belt.

Rodney Hood had 23 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists but couldn’t stop the Jazz from dropping a key game. The loss drops the Jazz from seventh seed to the eighth but they still hold a lead of half a game over the Houston Rockets, who are slated to face the Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday. 

Oklahoma City Thunder 124-110 Denver Nuggets

Oklahoma City Thunder led by Russell Westbrook’s triple double and Kevin Durant’s efficient play picked up an easy win at Denver. Westbrook with 13 points, 14 rebounds and 12 assists tied Magic Johnson’s 1989-90 record for most triple doubles (17) in the last 30 years.

Westbrook, the Western Conference Player of the Month of March, has registered seven triple doubles in March, the most in a calendar month since Michael Jordan had seven in 1989.  More than the number of triple doubles he records, it’s the speed at which Westbrook records a triple doubles that is astounding.

Against the Nuggets he did so in just 22 minutes of playing time. With seven he has the most triple doubles under 30 minutes since the shot clock era (1954-55), Magic Johnson is second with four. Durant had 26 points, 8 rebounds and 5 assists in his 29 minutes on the court.

For the Nuggets, it was their bench once again that put up a fight. Off the bench, D.J. Augustin had 15 points, 4 assists, 2 rebounds, 2 steals while center Joeffrey Lauvergne had 12 points, 10 rebounds and 3 assists in his 27 minutes. The game was a mere formality given the dominance the Thunder show against non-Playoff teams.

Both teams already have their seed fixed, the Thunder in the third seed while the Nuggets are not in the Playoffs. 

Philadelphia 76ers 107-93 New Orleans Pelicans

Carl Landry (PHI): 22 pts, 9 rebs, 9-10 FG’s

Tim Frazier (NOP): 12 pts, 9 asts, 6 rebs, 3 stls

Toronto Raptors 96-90 Charlotte Hornets

DeMar Derozan (TOR): 26 pts, 7 rebs, 6 asts

Jeremy Lin (CHA): 21 pts, 7 asts, 4 rebs

Miami Heat 107-89 Detroit Pistons

Tobias Harris (DET): 21 pts, 7 rebs, 2 asts

Hassan Whiteside (MIA): 22 pts, 8 asts, 5 rebs

Atlanta Hawks 103-90 Phoenix Suns

Kent Bazemore (ATL): 17 pts, 9 rebs, 5 asts, 5 stls

Devin Booker (PHO): 34 pts, 5 rebs, 2 asts, 2 stls

Memphis Grizzlies 108-92 Chicago Bulls

Zach Randolph (MEM): 27 pts, 10 rebs, 4 asts, 2 stls

Pau Gasol (CHI): 17 pts, 10 asts, 4 blks

Portland Trailblazers 115-107 Sacramento Kings

Rajon Rondo (SAC): 27 pts, 12 asts, 10 rebs

Maurice Harkless (POR): 20 pts, 16 rebs, 2 asts, 2 stls

Los Angeles Clippers 103-81 Los Angeles Lakers

Chris Paul (LAC): 25 pts, 8 asts, 4 rebs, 2 stls

Jeff Green (LAC): 21 pts, 3 rebs, 2 asts

Top 10 plays:

Eleven games calls for a lot of highlights, here are last night’s top 10 plays:

 

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