The Minnesota Timberwolves faced the Cleveland Cavaliers not too long ago, and lost by 16 points. They traveled to Cleveland on Monday, hoping for a different outcome against a team that since that last meeting fired their Head Coach. The difference was noticeable right away, despite the Timberwolves missing their first six shots of the game.
Minnesota eventually got on the board when Karl-Anthony Towns scored a layup to make the score 7-2 in favor of Cleveland. After Andrew Wiggins hit a pair of free throws, the lead was cut to five points, but quickly extended when former Timberwolf Kevin Love made a three point shot to make it an eight point game. The Timberwolves slowly started making the lead shrink until with 3:06 left in the first quarter, they took the lead after Towns hit a jump shot. The teams would then exchange the lead, with the Cavaliers holding a three point lead at the end of the quarter, thanks to a Matthew Dellavedova three point shot just before the buzzer.
In the second quarter, Cleveland extended their lead to five, but just like the first quarter, Minnesota kept the score close, never falling behind by more than six points, and even taking the lead a few times. Cleveland had a four point lead with just seconds left in the half when Shabazz Muhammad tried a jump shot that was no good. Cleveland got the rebound, but J.R. Smith was unable to hit a three at the buzzer that would have made it a seven point halftime lead. In the first half, Minnesota was led by Zach LaVine, who scored 12 points in the quarter. Wiggins scored 11, and Towns added 10 points. Cleveland was led by LeBron James, who scored 23 points, while Kyrie Irving added six points and seven rebounds.
The third quarter was the same as the first two, as neither team was able to get a very big lead, or hold the lead for very long. That changed late in the quarter, when Cleveland went on an 8-3 run over the final two minutes thanks to a Irving three point shot that extended the lead to 12 before Gorgui Dieng hit a pair of free throws to cut the lead to 10 points heading into the fourth quarter.
In the fourth quarter, Cleveland held the lead for most of the quarter, although Minnesota kept the lead small, which set up the final 42 seconds of the game, with Cleveland leading 108-102. After Minnesota took a timeout, LaVine was fouled by Tristan Thompson. LaVine made both free throws to make it a four point game with under 40 seconds left. James made a layup on the other end to make it a six point game, but Minnesota had a chance after LaVine made a layup, and drew a foul on Love. LaVine made the free throw to make it a three point game with 16 seconds left, forcing Cleveland to take a timeout.
Coming out of the timeout, Wiggins fouled James, which sent him to the line for two free throws. He made the first shot, which extended the lead to four points. He also made the second shot, which made it a five point game. Minnesota got a few shots off in the closing seconds, but none of them fell, as Dellavedova got the rebound, which sealed the deal, and gave Cleveland a 114-107 win over Minnesota.
The win moves Cleveland to a 31-12 record, which keeps them in first place in the Eastern Conference. Meanwhile, Minnesota now drops to a 14-32 record, which puts them in 14th place in the Western Conference. Next, Minnesota will travel to Oklahoma to face the Thunder on Wednesday, before traveling west for a four game swing that will see them face Utah, Portland, and both Los Angeles teams. Cleveland, meanwhile, will remain home to face Phoenix on Wednesday before going to Detroit for a matchup with the Pistons on Friday.