Ballin': Jimmer Fredette Outduels Ricky Rubio, But Timberwolves Win to Go Over .500
By Jason McIntyre
Sacramento 84, Minnesota 86: No Kevin Love, no problem for the Timberwolves, who improved to 13-12 by holding off the hard-charging Jimmer Fredettes. (Make sure to watch that video. At the 2:27 mark – “turn on the sprinkler systems, Jimmer Fredette is on fire!”) Ricky Rubio dominated the highlights (14 assists, five steals), but it was Nikola Pekovic, a 3rd year center from Yugoslavia, who dominated offensively (23 points, 10 rebounds). Rookie Derrick Williams was clutch, hitting a tie-breaker triple in the final minute.
This might be one of the coolest alley-oops I’ve seen this season. Looked like something out of a halftime show. Interesting that the guy who finished that dunk, Wes Johnson, has been hammered in Minnesota recently.
Miami 107, Cleveland 91: Chris Bosh dunked, Wade scored 26 and LeBron scored 24 and the Heat remained just two wins back of the Bulls in the win column in the East. It’s their best record in franchise history after 25 games.
Milwaukee 105, Phoenix 107: Steve Nash celebrated his 38th birthday by scoring the game-winning basket to complete an 18-point, 11-assist night.
Oklahoma City 119, Golden State 116: Monta Ellis went off for 48 points, David Lee had a triple double (25-11-10) and the Warriors shot 55 percent at home … but still lost when Kevin Durant banked home the game-winner with :14 left. Must be nice to have young legs – the Thunder needed overtime Monday in Portland to beat the Blazers, then Durant and Westbrook came back Tuesday and logged 44 and 43 minutes respectively to get another victory to improve to 20-5, tops in the NBA.
Indiana 104, Utah 99: So the Jazz are having trouble defending point guards. A night after Jeremy Lin torched them for 28, Darren Collison shot 10-of-14 and scored 25 points to go with zero turnovers as the Pacers improved to 17-7.