The AP reports: Corey Brewer scored 11 of his 15 points in the second half, and the Minnesota Timberwolves shook off poor early shooting and beat the Chicago Bulls 96-86 Tuesday night in a preseason game. The Timberwolves (3-1) made just five of 20 shots (25 percent) in the opening quarter but ended up with six players in double figures. Brewer also had a game-high nine rebounds for Minnesota. Al Jefferson scored 13 points, Rashad McCants had 12, forward Ryan Gomes added 11 and forwards Craig Smith and Kevin Love each scored 10… Chicago center Drew Gooden scored 20 points, Nocioni had 18 off the bench and forward Luol Deng added 15.
Category: Games
Basketball games blog
Oct 14: Clippers 90, Thunder 88
The AP reports: Mike Taylor set up the go-ahead basket with a steal and then sent home an emphatic right-handed jam in the final minute as the Los Angeles Clippers spoiled the Thunder’s only preseason home game Tuesday night with a 90-88 win. Taylor picked Russell Westbrook’s pocket and missed a fast-break layup, but Ricky Davis was there with the putback to give the Clippers (2-0) an 84-83 lead with 49.9 seconds remaining… Al Thornton led the Clippers with 23 points, Taylor finished with 14 and Ricky Davis had 13. Eric Gordon, the Clippers’ first-round draft pick, scored nine points on 2-for-8 shooting in 22 minutes in his preseason debut… Kevin Durant, the reigning rookie of the year, paced the Thunder (1-4) with 18 points but missed a potential tying 3-pointer with 9 seconds left. Westbrook and Earl Watson scored 14, Johan Petro had 12 points and 15 rebounds and Desmond Mason and Nick Collison each added 10 points.
Oct 14: Sixers 116, Knicks 109
The AP reports: Andre Miller scored 22 points, and the 76ers spoiled D’Antoni’s first preseason home game at Madison Square Garden with a 116-109 victory over the Knicks on Tuesday night… Andre Iguodala added 18 points and Thaddeus Young had 16 for the 76ers (3-1) in the second meeting between the Atlantic Division rivals in five nights. The Knicks won 110-104 last Friday night in Philadelphia. Reserves Nate Robinson scored 21 points and Wilson Chandler 20 for the Knicks, who were 15-of-32 (47 percent) from 3-point range. Elton Brand, Philadelphia’s key offseason addition, was only 3-of-12 but finished with 13 points and 11 rebounds. Zach Randolph and David Lee each finished with 17 points for New York (1-2), but Lee was only 5-of-11 after making 17 of 23 shots (74 percent) in the first two games.
Oct 14: Celtics 90, Cavs 86
The AP reports: Leon Powe scored 17 points in the second half, including the go-ahead basket with just over two minutes left, to lead the Boston Celtics to a 90-86 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers in a preseason game Tuesday night. Powe’s dunk with 2 minutes, 17 seconds remaining put the Celtics ahead 85-84. Boston trailed 81-74 following an 8-0 Cleveland run early in the fourth quarter… Ray Allen had 15 points in 23 minutes for the Celtics (3-1). Paul Pierce added 14 points and Kevin Garnett had 11 points and seven rebounds. Each of Boston’s “Big Three” left the game for good midway through the third quarter. Daniel Gibson led Cleveland with 14 points. LeBron James had 12 points, three rebounds and two assists in 18 minutes. Jawad Williams added 13 points and Zydrunas Ilgauskas had six rebounds.
Oct 14: Spurs 86, Pistons 64
The AP reports: Desmon Farmer scored 13 points while Tim Duncan had 10 points and eight rebounds to lead the San Antonio Spurs to an 86-64 preseason victory over the Pistons on Tuesday night. The Pistons shot just 27.8 percent (22-of-79) from the field. It was the first win of the preseason for the Spurs (1-2) and the first loss for the Pistons (4-1)… “Just look at the guys we have, we definitely have a good shooting team,” said Detroit’s Rasheed Wallace, who missed all seven of his field goal attempts… Will Bynum led the Pistons with 10 points and Jason Maxiell had eight rebounds.
Oct 14: Hornets 96, Wizards 80
The AP reports: Chris Paul had eight assists and scored four points to help the Hornets jump out to an 18-0 lead. He played the entire first and third quarters and sat out the other two, finishing with 11 assists and nine points… The Hornets opened the second half without forward Julian Wright, who had to be carried off the court with a sprained ankle in the second quarter… Washington outscored the Hornets 22-15 in the third quarter, led by guard DeShawn Stevenson’s three 3-pointers. Stevenson hit five 3-pointers and finished with 15 points.
Oct 13: Thunder 110, Rockets 104
The AP reports: Kevin Durant shrugged off a late injury and scored 20 of his 26 points in an electrifying final 8 minutes to lead the Oklahoma City Thunder past the Houston Rockets 110-104 on Monday night for their first preseason win… Aaron Brooks scored 20 off the bench to lead the Rockets, D.J. Strawberry added 16 and Yao Ming had 15 points, 16 rebounds and three blocks in one half of action— playing the first and third quarters. Nick Collison had 21 points off the bench, Desmond Mason scored 16 and Chris Wilcox added 13 points and 14 rebounds for the Thunder.
Oct 13: Grizzlies 103, Pacers 95
The AP reports: Rookie guard O.J. Mayo scored 26 points, including six 3-pointers, to lead the Memphis Grizzlies to a 103-95 victory over the Indiana Pacers on Monday night… In addition to Mayo’s contributions, the Grizzlies got production from another rookie. Marc Gasol, brother of former Grizzlies forward Pau Gasol, scored 14 points and had 10 rebounds in 35 minutes. Rudy Gay finished with 16 points. T.J. Ford had 18 points for Indiana (1-2). Jarrett Jack and Roy Hibbert each added 17.
Oct 13: Hawks 88, Bobcats 87
The AP reports: Acie Law’s basket with 4.5 seconds left lifted the Atlanta Hawks to an 88-87 preseason win over the Charlotte Bobcats on Monday night. Law started at point guard in place of Mike Bibby, who was out with a strained right oblique muscle. The second-year player scored 12 points. Joe Johnson paced the Hawks (3-1) with 17 points, Josh Smith added 16 and Al Horford grabbed nine rebounds. Atlanta also got contributions from its two major offseason acquisitions; Maurice Evans had 12 points and Flip Murray 11… Jason Richardson, the only Charlotte player in double figures until the closing minutes, scored 19 points to lead the Bobcats. D.J. Augustin, the Bobcats’ first-round pick at No. 9 overall, had 11 points, six assists and three rebounds in 25 minutes. Raymond Felton doled out 11 assists.
Oct 12: Lakers 94, Kings 89
The AP reports: Pau Gasol had 12 points and six rebounds to help the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Sacramento Kings 94-89 in exhibition play Sunday night… Los Angeles built its largest advantage at 84-72 with 5:25 left. The Kings cut it 92-89 with 36 seconds to go, but got no closer.
InsideHoops.com Stat Notes: For the Lakers, Kobe Bryant (just 4-of-12) had 9 points. Andrew Bynum had 9 points and 5 rebounds. Vladimir Radmanovic had 9 with 7 rebounds and 3 assists. Lamar Odom, coming off the bench, had 4 points, 9 rebounds and 3 assists. For the Kings, Jason Thompson came off the bench to put up 15 points and 8 rebounds. Brad Miller had 10 points and 4 rebounds. John Salmons (just 4-of-15) had 11 points and 3 steals. Off the bench, Spencer Hawes had 6 points, 10 rebounds and 3 blocks.