Karl-Anthony Towns scored 11 of his game-high 33 points in the fourth quarter, Mike Conley buried a lead-extending 3-pointer with 9.6 seconds remaining and the Minnesota Timberwolves outlasted the Golden State Warriors 104-101 on Tuesday night in San Francisco in a game marred by three ejections.
Warriors stars Klay Thompson and Draymond Green and Timberwolves forward Jaden McDaniels were all kicked out of the contest. The trio of ejections occurred just 1:43 into the game, when Thompson and McDaniels grabbed a hold of each other’s jersey on their way down the court after Anthony Edwards missed a 3-pointer.
Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert was one of the first to separate the two, but in doing so, prompted Green to retaliate by placing the Minnesota big man in a headlock. Shortly thereafter, the referees — after conferring with the NBA review officials in New Jersey — decided to eject Thompson, McDaniels and Green. Edwards finished with 20 points for Minnesota. Brandin Podziemski led Golden State with 23 points, and Dario Saric scored 21. Stephen Curry sat out due to a sore right knee.
Nikola Jokic had 32 points, 16 rebounds and nine assists, Aaron Gordon scored 20 points and host Denver stretched Los Angeles’ losing streak to six.
Paul George led the Clippers with 35 points, James Harden scored 21 and Kawhi Leonard contributed 15 for Los Angeles, which is 0-2 in the in-season tournament. The Nuggets are 2-0 in West Group B. The Clippers are 0-5 in games Harden has played since he was acquired from Philadelphia late last month.
Lakers 134, Grizzlies 107
D’Angelo Russell scored 24 points, Rui Hachimura added 23 and host Los Angeles increased its winning streak to three games while improving to 2-0 in the NBA in-season tournament by routing Memphis.
Anthony Davis had 19 points with 11 rebounds, while Austin Reaves and LeBron James each added 16 points for Los Angeles, which is 5-0 at home this season.
Santi Aldama scored 24 points for the Grizzlies, who split their trip to Los Angeles after defeating the Clippers on Sunday. Already without Steven Adams (knee), Brandon Clarke (Achilles), Derrick Rose (ankle) and Ja Morant (suspension), the Grizzlies lost Marcus Smart to an ankle injury and Luke Kennard to knee soreness.