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THURSDAY, MARCH 26, 2015
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
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Wiggins scores 27 in Laker victory over Wolves
ASSOCIATED PRESS
JIM MONE/ASSOCIATED PRESS
MINNEAPOLIS — Jordan Clarkson hit two free throws with 0.3 seconds left in overtime to send the Los Angeles Lakers over the Minnesota Timberwolves, 101-99 on Wednesday night.
Clarkson scored eight points in overtime and finished with 20. Jeremy Lin added 19 points for the Lakers, who snapped a five-game road losing streak and won for the second time in three games.
Minnesota Timberwolves' Andrew Wiggins drives as Los Angeles Lakers' Wesley Johnson defends during the first quarter of the game on Wednesday in Minneapolis. The Lakers narrowly beat the Timberwolves 101-99.
Lin — who scored a seasonhigh 29 points Sunday and followed with 19 last night at Oklahoma City — keyed a second-half run as Los Angeles led by as many as 13 points.
Kevin Garnett, Ricky Rubio, Nikola Pekovic, Robbie Hummel, Anthony Bennett, Shabazz Muhammad and Gary Neal were out of uniform because of injuries.
Los Angeles is trying to finish the season strong without the injured Kobe Bryant and without Steve Nash, who recently announced his retirement. Even without Carlos Boozer and Jordan Hill, the Lakers outrebounded Minnesota 48-40.
Chase Budinger scored 22 and sent the game into overtime with a 3-pointer with 6.6 seconds left in regulation as the Timberwolves erased a 13-point, second-half deficit.
... C Justin Hamilton returned after missing four games because of headaches. ... Budinger was two points off his season-high and has now scored in double-figures in seven straight games.
Kelly drew his second straight start as Hill and Boozer were held out. Boozer told the Los Angeles Daily News that he and Hill were informed by Scott before the road trip that the two would sit for the "next four or five games."
The Timberwolves went to overtime for the second straight game, but the young team couldn't pull off the same ending they did in beating Utah in overtime on Monday night.
Andrew Wiggins had 27 points for Minnesota.
Wiggins put Minnesota ahead 97-95 with a turnaround jump shot and free throw on a foul by former Timberwolves draft pick Wayne Ellington, who was 3-of-19 shooting in the game. But Clarkson connected on all six of his free throws in overtime and added a driving layup with 34.5 seconds left to put the Lakers ahead 99-97.
Saunders said before the game that he expects
The Wolves' Gorgui Deng tied the game 99-all with a jumper but Clarkson finished the game at the line.
TIP-INS
Kelly scored 11 points and had eight rebounds.
Lakers: Coach Byron Scott missed his second straight game after, the death of his mother. Paul Pressey was standing in for Scott, who could return to the team in Toronto. ... Rookie F Ryan
Timberwolves: Was 27 of 30 from the free-throw line. Minnesota has shot 81.0 percent from the free-throw line since Jan. 1, the second-best percentage in the NBA.
BACK AGAIN. SOMETIME
BACA AGAIN, SUMMETIME Minnesota remained shorthanded but could be close to getting some help. G Kevin Martin (strained left hamstring) was deemed a game-time decision by coach Flip Saunders but didn't play
Garnett (sore left knee) and Rubio (sore right ankle) will play again this season. Rubio has missed the past three games, while Garnett has been out the last seven. Garnett has played in five of the Timberwolves' 18 games
since being acquired in a trade-deadline move from Brooklyn.
"They have some soreness when they either run or they walk," Saunders said of Rubio and Garnett. "Their gait's not where they need to be and until their gait's where they need to be, they won't play."
WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN
Garnett and Bryant didn't play Wednesday but Saunders intimated the two were almost teammates. Garnett started the trend of high school players jumping to the NBA when he was the fifth overall pick by Minnesota in 1995. A year later, Bryant was the star prep player heading to the NBA.
Saunders, the Timberwolves coach at the time, said the team had discussed selecting Bryant, too.
"We were in a situation probably having had taken a high school player, we teetered on the idea of taking another one because we had success with KG." Saunders said. "But we just kind of balked thinking it might be too much having two of those guys young at that time because we were still in the process of developing KG as a young player."
Minnesota ended up picking Ray Allen with the fifth pick and trading him to Milwaukee for Stephon Marbury, who went one pick earlier. Bryant lasted until the 13th pick where he was drafted by the Charlotte Hornets and later traded to the Lakers.
NEXT UP
Lakers: Visit the Toronto Raptors on Friday
Timberwolves: Visit the Houston Rockets on Friday
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