Kevin Garnett had 30 points and 13 rebounds, Latrell Sprewell added 23 points and the Minnesota Timberwolves got another big victory for their playoff hopes, beating the Sacramento Kings 112-100 Sunday.
Sam Cassell scored 13 of his 16 points in the first half for the Timberwolves, who have won four straight regular-season games in Sacramento. Minnesota made 53 percent of its shots and took a 16-point lead early in the fourth quarter before holding on to extend the longest current winning streak of any opponent at Arco Arena.
With their sixth victory in seven games, the ninth-place Timberwolves (39-35) stayed three games behind Denver and Memphis for the final two Western Conference playoff spots. The Grizzlies beat the Los Angeles Lakers 102-82 on Sunday night, while the Nuggets were idle.
PHOTO: AP
Peja Stojakovic scored 25 points for the Kings, who grabbed a season-high 24 offensive rebounds -- 20 in the first half -- but couldn't do much else. Sacramento dropped into a tie for fifth place in the conference with the Houston Rockets, who hosted Phoenix later.
Mike Bibby scored 19 points and Cuttino Mobley added 16 for the Kings, who must win five of their final seven games to reach 50 victories for the fifth straight season. Kenny Thomas had 11 points and a season-high 16 rebounds.
Cavaliers 100, Mavericks 80
In Cleveland, LeBron James scored 37 points and Zydrunas Ilgauskas added 21 to keep the Cleveland Cavaliers tied with Indiana for the sixth playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.
Dirk Nowitzki scored 21 points and Jerry Stackhouse added 16.
76ers 97, Celtics 93
In Boston, Allen Iverson scored 38 points for the Philadelphia 76ers, who blew most of a 26-point first-quarter lead but held on to move three games behind the Celtics in the Atlantic Division.
Samuel Dalembert had 18 points and 15 rebounds for the Sixers.
Paul Pierce had 26 points and 13 rebounds and Raef LaFrentz had 14 points and 13 rebounds for the Celtics.
Bucks 106, Knicks 102
In Milwaukee, Mo Williams made four free throws and Desmond Mason added another in the final 16 seconds as Milwaukee snapped its eight-game losing streak.
Michael Redd had 32 points to lead the Bucks. Tim Thomas paced the Knicks with 23 points and hit two 3-pointers down the stretch to keep the Knicks in the game, but it wasn't enough as they lost their sixth straight.
Mason had 20 points, Williams 18 and Marcus Fizer 14. The Knicks dropped their seventh in the last 11 games to Milwaukee.
Suns 91, Rockets 78
In Houston, Shawn Marion had 23 points and 18 rebounds and Joe Johnson added 19 points to lead Phoenix to its fifth-straight win.
Jim Jackson came off the bench to score 15 points.
Yao Ming led Houston with 19 points and 12 rebounds.
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
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