Cleveland, OH – Luke Ridnour led six Minnesota players in double figures with a game-high 21 points to lead the Timberwolves to a 100-92 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Monday.
Nikola Pekovic added 16 points and 10 rebounds and Ricky Rubio dropped in 13 points, dished out 10 assists and had five steals for the Timberwolves, who had dropped 10 of their previous 11 games entering the contest.
Derrick Williams added 13 points, while Alexey Shved and Mickael Gelabale finished with 11 points apiece in the triumph.
Kyrie Irving scored 20 points to go with seven assists and Tristan Thompson scored 16 points and grabbed nine rebounds for the Cavs, losers in two straight.
Dion Waiters scored 12 points, Alonzo Gee netted 11 and Wayne Ellington and Marreese Speights finished with 10 points apiece in the setback.
C.J. Miles canned a 3-pointer with just under nine minutes left to tie the game at 76-76, but the Wolves used a 16-7 surge to take a 92-83 lead with 3:55 remaining.
Cleveland scored the next six points to make it 92-89 with 1:56 to go, but Ridnour drained a trey before Rubio knocked down a 16-foot jumper to push the spread back to eight points at 97-89 with 1 1/2 minutes showing.
A pair of Thompson free throws made it 97-91, but the Wolves held the Cavs to just one point over the final minute of the game to seal the win.
"In the second half we were really good and finished the game. We made some big shots and had some good defensive possessions. It was a good win," Wolves head coach Rick Adelman said.
Thompson paced the Cavs to a 27-25 lead after the first quarter, tallying 10 points in the frame. The Cavs shot 55 percent (11-for-20) from the floor and scored 11 points off of six Minnesota turnovers.
The Wolves, though, outscored Cleveland, 24-19, in the second period to take a 49-46 lead into the break.
"We weren't terrible in the first half," Thompson said. "In the second half, of course they gained confidence, everybody was hot, that made a big difference."
Irving's layup at the 4:21 mark in the third gave the Cavs a 61-60 lead, but Minnesota closed the quarter on a 12-4 run to take a 72-65 lead into the fourth quarter.
Game Notes
The Wolves went 8-for-14 (57.1 percent) from 3-point range ... The Cavs outscored the Wolves, 48-34, in the paint ... Cleveland, which gave up 18 points on 20 turnovers, scored 34 points off of 22 Minnesota giveaways ... Irving left the game after he injured his ankle in the closing seconds of the first half. Irving landed on Shved's foot following a jumper, but returned in the second half.
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