Parker’s 28 helps Spurs carve up Wolves 121-92
San Antonio Spurs’ Tony Parker, right, of France, drives around Minnesota Timberwolves’ Mo Williams in the second half of an NBA basketball game, Friday, Nov. 21, 2014, in Minneapolis. The Spurs won 121-92. AP
MINNEAPOLIS, United States— Tony Parker scored 28 points in 25 minutes and the San Antonio Spurs cruised past the short-handed Minnesota Timberwolves, 121-92, in the National Basketball League on Friday night.
Parker made 12 of 18 shots, including all three of his 3-pointers, and Danny Green scored 18 points for the Spurs, which pulled away with a dominant third quarter.
Anthony Bennett scored a career-high 20 points for the Timberwolves, who had just 10 healthy players after announcing earlier in the day that Kevin Martin will be out indefinitely with a fractured right wrist. The Wolves were also missing starters Ricky Rubio, Nikola Pekovic and Thaddeus Young and backup big man Ronny Turiaf.
Against overmatched point guards Mo Williams and Zach LaVine, Parker sliced and diced the Timberwolves’ defense to death with dribble penetration. When he wasn’t scoring on crafty floaters or nifty little finishes at the rim, he was collapsing the Wolves’ inexperienced defense and finding open shooters for 3s.
The Wolves stayed in it thanks to 15 first-half points from Williams and San Antonio’s sloppy ball-handling. The Spurs committed 20 turnovers in the game.
Tim Duncan had nine points and 10 rebounds in 23 minutes and Austin Daye had 13 points and 11 boards for the Spurs.
At Washington, John Wall took over in the third quarter and finished with 28 points, seven assists and six rebounds, and the hustling Washington Wizards clamped down for a 91-78 win over LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Resuming a rivalry that peaked last decade when the Wizards and James’ Cavaliers met three consecutive years in the playoffs, the Wizards grabbed a majority of the 50-50 rebounds and capitalized on the defensive woes that have hurt Cleveland.
James scored 22 points on 8-for-21 shooting, but Cleveland committed 19 turnovers, shot 36 percent and scored a season-low in points.
At Toronto, Lou Williams scored a season-high 22 points, Jonas Valanciunas added 18 points and 12 rebounds, and the Toronto Raptors beat the Milwaukee Bucks, 124-83.
The Raptors narrowly missed matching its largest margin of victory in franchise history, set in a 96-54 victory over Miami on March 19, 2008.
Kyle Lowry scored 20 points and Terrence Ross had 13 as the Raptors wrapped up a franchise-record seven-game homestand at 6-1 and became the first Eastern Conference team to reach 10 wins.
Dirk Nowitzki scored 23 points in yet another efficient shooting effort and the Dallas Mavericks used the NBA’s highest-scoring offense to roll to a 140-106 victory against the Los Angeles Lakers.
The Mavericks won their sixth straight game as Nowitzki, Monta Ellis and Chandler Parsons combined for 23 of 33 from the field. Parsons had 21 points and Ellis scored 20.
Kobe Bryant missed his first eight shots and was 6 of 22 for 17 points. Jeremy Lin had 18 to lead the Lakers.
In other games Friday, the Orlando Magic downed the Charlotte Hornets 105-100, the Atlanta Hawks recovered after blowing a 19-point lead to beat the Detroit Pistons 99-89, the Memphis Grizzlies topped the Boston Celtics 117-100 and the Phoenix Suns eased past the winless Philadelphia 76ers 122-96.
Also, the Brooklyn Nets edged the Oklahoma City Thunder 94-92, the Denver Nuggets routed the New Orleans Pelicans 117-97, the Portland Trailblazers thrashed the Chicago Bulls 105-87 and the Golden State Warriors beat the Utah Jazz 101-88.
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