Minnesota Cuts Losses in Houston

Latrell Sprewell had his own mind-set in the waning seconds of Minnesota’s game Monday night, and it paid off when the Timberwolves outlasted the Rockets, 94-88, at Houston.

In spite of a timeout in which Minnesota Coach Flip Saunders drew up a play, Sprewell knew what he was going to do -- go to Kevin Garnett any way he could.

He did that, and Garnett made a 10-foot fadeaway jumper with 18 seconds left to help give Minnesota its last lead. Garnett scored six of his 27 points in the last two minutes, and Sam Cassell added 24 points as the Timberwolves ended a four-game losing streak at Houston. Minnesota also remained 1 1/2 game ahead of San Antonio atop the Midwest Division.

“Flip was saying do this and do that,” Sprewell said. “I just told Kevin to get in the box and do your thing.”

Garnett liked Sprewell’s plan.

“Sometimes we like to simplify things,” Garnett said. “We had to figure out which side Flip wanted us to play from but we like to simplify it after that.”

Yao Ming missed a shot just inside the top of the circle with 10 seconds left, and Sprewell and Cassell made two free throws apiece to clinch it.

Maurice Taylor, Steve Francis and Cuttino Mobley had 17 points apiece for Houston.

Memphis 136, Atlanta 133 -- James Posey scored a career-high 38 points -- including a buzzer-beating three-pointer to force the second overtime period -- and the Grizzlies won their sixth straight in the highest-scoring NBA game this season. Memphis is 5-0 in overtime games, 13-2 this month and an NBA-best 24-5 since Feb. 1. The Grizzlies, however, were without leading scorer Pau Gasol (sprained right foot) after the first half.

Stephen Jackson had 28 points for Atlanta.

San Antonio 101, Cleveland 93 -- Manu Ginobili scored 21 points for the Spurs, who led by as many as 23 in the fourth quarter at San Antonio.

Cleveland rookie LeBron James, in his San Antonio debut, scored 12 of his 18 points in the third quarter, but he didn’t play in the fourth.

Miami 105, Chicago 96 -- Caron Butler scored 12 of his season-high 30 points in the fourth quarter and pulled down a career-best 13 rebounds as the Heat used a late 13-2 run to win its ninth consecutive home game. The Heat played without Lamar Odom (bruised knee). Kirk Hinrich scored 20 points for the Bulls.

New York 92, Portland 91 -- Vin Baker made a jump hook over the outstretched arm of Theo Ratliff, the league’s leading shot blocker, with 38 seconds and that ended up being the game-winner for the Knicks at New York.

Tim Thomas led the Knicks with 26 points in his return from a four-game absence because of a strained groin. Damon Stoudamire had 20 points but missed an off-balance 20-footer at the buzzer for Portland, which fell out of a tie with Utah for the final Western Conference playoff spot.

Boston 84, New Jersey 80 -- Paul Pierce overcame early foul trouble to score 18 of his 21 points in the second half at East Rutherford, N.J., to help the Celtics move 1 1/2 games ahead of Cleveland for the final Eastern Conference playoff spot. Richard Jefferson had 24 points for New Jersey.

Phoenix 101, Washington 95 -- Shawn Marion had 21 points and 12 rebounds to lead the Suns at Phoenix. Larry Hughes had 32 points and Gilbert Arenas scored 30 for Washington.