Timberwolves spoil LeBron milestone

LOS ANGELES (AFP) — The Minnesota Timberwolves turned it up late to beat the Los Angeles Lakers, 116-104, on Friday, withstanding a vintage performance from LeBron James to take a 2-1 lead in their National Basketball Association (NBA) Western Conference first-round playoff series.

Jaden McDaniels scored a career playoff-high of 30 points and Anthony Edwards added 29 for the Timberwolves, who closed the game on a 13-1 scoring run.

With Slovenian star Luka Doncic slowed by illness, James led the Lakers with 38 points — surpassing the playoff record for a player past his 40th birthday, the 32 points scored by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in the NBA Finals in 1987.

The teams had split the first two games of the best-of-seven series in Los Angeles. The Timberwolves host Game 4 on Sunday looking to take a 3-1 lead.

James added 10 rebounds, four assists, two steals and two blocked shots, drilling a trio of three-pointers in the fourth quarter that helped the Lakers keep it close.

They tied it at 103-103 with 4:37 remaining on a basket by Doncic, who was battling a stomach ailment that Lakers coach JJ Redick said had him throwing up throughout the day.

Edwards responded with a three-pointer and Naz Reid followed with another. After driving for a layup Edwards blocked Rui Hachimura at the other end and after McDaniels pushed the lead to 116-104 with 39 seconds left Redick pulled his starters.

In the Eastern Conference, the Orlando Magic and Milwaukee Bucks grabbed their first victories, the Magic holding off the defending champion Boston Celtics 95-93 and the Bucks beating the Indiana Pacers, 117-101.

The Celtics and Pacers had both won the first two games of their series at home, so the victories to cut their series deficits to 2-1 were crucial for the Magic and Bucks — both teams aware that no NBA team has rallied from 3-0 down to win a playoff series.