LOS ANGELES, 16 January 2004 — When foul-plagued Kevin Garnett sat down, teammate Sam Cassell stepped up.
Cassell scored 10 of his 33 points in the final six minutes and handed out nine assists to lead the surging Minnesota Timberwolves past the host San Antonio Spurs, 100-93 on Wednesday night in a heavyweight showdown between the league’s two hottest teams.
“One of us has to step up,” said Cassell after falling one point shy of his season-high. “It’s either going to be me or Spree when KG is on the bench, tonight it was me”
“Any doubts about Sam Cassell making the All-Star team should be cleared up,” Timberwolves’ coach Flip Saunders said. “He had a huge game and carried us.”
Latrell Sprewell netted 24 points while Garnett collected 22 points and 10 rebounds for the Timberwolves, who have won 17 of their last 20 games to move one game ahead of San Antonio for the Midwest Division lead.
Tim Duncan had 36 points, 20 rebounds and seven assists but it wasn’t enough to prevent the reigning NBA champions from dropping two in a row after winning 17 of their previous 18 outings.
Argentine Manu Ginobili scored 14 points after missing five games with lower back spasms.
“We recovered well from last night’s loss to Atlanta and fought all the way through,” Duncan said.
Knicks 120 Magic 110
Stephon Marbury had 26 points and 10 assists, Allan Houston scored 23 points and Keith van Horn chipped in with 22 points and nine rebounds in the Knicks’ home win hours after coach Don Chaney was fired. Chaney was replaced by Lenny Wilkens.
The Hall of Fame coach will make his Knicks’ debut tonight against visiting Seattle, the team he guided to the 1979 NBA Championship.
Lakers 97 Nuggets 71
Ukranian Slava Medvedenko scored 22 points and Gary Payton added 21 as the short-handed Lakers rocked the visiting Nuggets for their third straight win.
Lakers coach Phil Jackson recorded his 800th victory without injured stars Kobe Bryant, Karl Malone and Shaquille O’Neal.
Pistons 95 Raptors 91
Turkish center Mehmet Okur scored 14 of his career-high 27 points in the fourth quarter and grabbed 14 rebounds, rallying the red-hot Pistons past the visiting Raptors for their 10th consecutive victory.
Richard Hamilton had 27 points, including two jumpers and a free throw in the final minute to seal Detroit’s longest win streak since the 1990-91 season. Vince Carter led Toronto with 27 points while Donyell Marshall had 20 points and 16 rebounds.
Mavericks 125 76ers 122 (2 OT)
Michael Finley scored 32 points and Dirk Nowitzki added five of his 25 in the second overtime, including the go-ahead jumper with 24 seconds left, lifting the Mavericks over the visiting 76ers. Dallas’ Antoine Walker collected his second straight triple-double with 11 points, 17 rebounds and 13 assists before fouled out late in the second overtime.
Rockets 95 Celtics 80
Cuttino Mobley scored 24 points, while China’s Yao Ming added 21 points and 15 rebounds, leading the Rockets to their third straight road victory. Mike James tallied 20 points for the Celtics but their leading scorer Paul Pierce, bothered by a bruised left hand, finished with a career-low four points on 1-10 shooting.
Pacers 85 Hawks 78
Reggie Miller scored all 13 of his points in the fourth quarter, including a trio of 3-pointers, sparking the Pacers past the visiting Hawks. Indiana’s Jermaine O’Neal had 26 points and 16 rebounds, and Ron Artest added 23 points. Shareef Abdur-Rahim led Atlanta with 16 points.
Nets 115 Wizards 103
Richard Jefferson scored 30 points while Rodney Rogers, filling in for suspended forward Kenyon Martin, had 18 points and a season-high 13 rebounds to lift the Nets to their 14th win in the last 18 games.
New Jersey’s Jason Kidd added 18 points, 13 assists and seven rebounds. Kwame Brown led Washington with 13 points and 12 rebounds.
