NBA Round-Up: December 27, 2010 - - Part III
Minnesota Timberwolves 113 - New Orleans Hornets 98
The Minnesota Timberwolves put in another solid effort and trounced the visiting New Orleans Hornets, 113-98 at Target Center in Minneapolis.
Michael Beasley played one of his best games in Wolves uniform as he contributed 30 points, 9 rebounds and a career-high 7 assists to lead the Timberwolves in their only
eighth victory of the season. Wesley Johnson registered a career-high 24 points and made six 3-pointers for Wolves in second victory in a row. Kevin Love scored 16 points and pulled down ii rebounds in the win.
David West did all he could and added team-high 23 points for Hornets in the season’s thirteenth defeat. Chris Paul netted 22 points and grabbed 13 assists for the New Orleans.
The Hornets played the opening quarter fantastically and slowly build up an 8-point lead (35-27), heading into the second stanza.
In the second quarter, Minnesota got it going offensively, however the visiting team maintained a 57-54 lead at the halftime.
Trailing by three at half, Minnesota controlled every aspect of the third quarter, limited turnovers, grabbed every available shot, and found the range from beyond the arc
early in the third, outscoring the Hornets 24-10.
With Wes Johnson’s three straight 3-pointers, the Timberwolves stayed in protection mode down the stretch to seal the victory.
"I thought our guys did an incredible job tonight. I thought they did a really, really good job at both ends of the floor especially coming off of a back to back scenario
where we are traveling. We got off to a sluggish start, which was a little frustrating, we just were not active defensively, and we were not moving the ball offensively. Once we kind of a got a feel for the game, I thought we kind of excelled and took off."
-- Minnesota coach Kurt Rambis.
Dallas Mavericks 103 - Oklahoma City Thunder 93
Dallas Mavericks handed the Oklahoma City Thunder their eleventh defeat of the season by beating them at Oklahoma City Arena, 103-93. The Mavericks victory snapped a five
game winning streak for the Thunder.
Just a great team win," "Huge team win. The guys pulled together. We had to get into a rhythm offensively. It took us awhile to find it. This should be a huge confidence
boost for our guys," said Dallas Mavericks assistant Dwane Casey.
Caron Butler scored team-high 21 points for Dallas in the season’s 24th victory. Shawn Marion (20 points), Jason Terry (13 points), Dirk Nowitzki (13 points),
DeShawn Stevenson (12 points), and Jason Kidd (10 points), joined Butler in double-figures.
Kevin Durant scored game-high 28 points for Oklahoma in the defeat. James Harden contributed 18 points for the Thunder in the second consecutive defeat. Russell Westbrook
netted 15 points and grabbed 7 assists in the defeat.
Durant of Oklahoma leads all players in the first quarter with 12 points, but the Thunder trailed 34-29 at the end of first quarter.
In the second quarter, the Oklahoma fought hard to make the score a respectable one and successfully tied the game at 56 heading into halftime.
It was tight throughout the third quarter, but once again, the Thunder found a way to an 81-79 advantage going to the final stanza.
Dallas trailed 90-83 when Dirk Nowitzki hit consecutive long balls to bring the Mavericks back.
Dallas went on a 12-2 run to take a 95-86 lead with 4:30 to go. Oklahoma City was not able to climb back into the game for rest of the session.
"This was a great team win, a huge team effort. Shawn Marion had a heck of a third quarter and Jason Kidd just willed us to win." -- Mavericks assistant coach Dwane Casey
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