Post Up: Another One

Timberwolves 117 (13-29), Suns 87 (13-29)

With their win over the Phoenix Suns on Sunday, the Minnesota Timberwolves snapped a nine-game skid. Both Ricky Rubio and Andrew Wiggins led the Wolves with 18 points apiece. Gorgui Deng added 15 off the bench, and rookie Karl-Anthony Towns contributed 14 points, 8 boards and 3 blocks. The loss was Phoenix’s fourth in a row.

Thunder 99 (30-12), Heat 74 (23-18)

Russell Westbrook notched a second consecutive triple-double in the Oklahoma City Thunder’s game against the Miami Heat. Westbrook finished with 13 points, 10 rebounds and 15 assists. Teammate Kevin Durant led the Thunder with 24 points and pulled down 10 rebounds for the double-double. The dynamic duo got the Thunder their thirtieth win of the season, blowing out birthday boy Dwyane Wade (22 points) and his Heat.

Spurs 112 (36-6), Mavericks 83 (23-19)

A win over the Dallas Mavericks puts the San Antonio Spurs just a game and a half behind the Warriors in the standings—stay woke. LaMarcus Aldridge led the Spurs with 23 points and 7 boards, but help came from multiple other players including Kawhi Leonard (15 points), Boris Diaw (16 points),  and Jonathon Simmons (14 points). Boban Marjanovic, too, did this:

Nuggets 129 (16-25), Pacers 126 (22-19)

A 45-point fourth quarter—yes, FORTY-FIVE—lifted the Denver Nuggets over the Indiana Pacers on Sunday. The Nuggets trailed by 15 points earlier in the game, but they came out with the victory led by Danilo Gallinari (23 points) and Randy Foye’s helpful late 3-pointer.

Will Barton (21 points) had a number of highlight worthy plays too:

Rockets 112 (22-20), Lakers 95 (9-34)

The Los Angeles Lakers suffered a #3rdQofDoom of sorts when the Houston Rockets outscored ’em 34-18. By the start of the fourth, they were down by 19 points. James Harden led all scorers with 31 points, and six more Rockets scored in double-figs to secure the win. Clint Capela finished with a 14-point, 11-board double-double, while Dwight Howard added 14 points and 15 boards.

For the Lakers, Kobe Bryant (9 assists) passed Jerry West for second all-time in franchise history with this dime: