Third Time a Charm for the Timberwolves

It took three tries, but the Minnesota Timberwolves finally found a way to defeat the Golden State Warriors.

Kevin Garnett had 24 points, nine rebounds and nine assists as the Timberwolves beat the Warriors for the first time this season, 91-81, Friday night at Minneapolis.

Minnesota, which has now defeated every other NBA team this season, trailed, 57-52, midway through the third quarter.

Former Clipper Michael Olowokandi, who sat out 36 games this season after undergoing knee surgery, fueled a 16-4 run by making all four of his shots as the Timberwolves took the lead for good, 62-59.

The Warriors played without point guard Speedy Claxton, who will be sidelined for a minimum of three weeks because of a fractured bone in his right hand. He suffered the injury on the first play of Wednesday night’s game at Memphis when he got tangled up with Grizzly forward Pau Gasol.

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Cleveland 112, Orlando 107 -- LeBron James scored six of his 30 points in overtime at Orlando, Fla., to help the Cavaliers get past the Magic.

James, who committed an offensive foul on Cleveland’s final possession of regulation, also had 11 rebounds as the Cavaliers won after blowing an 18-point fourth-quarter lead.

The Magic tied the score, at 100-100, on three free throws by Tracy McGrady, who was fouled by Carlos Boozer on a three-point shot with nine seconds to play. McGrady finished with 35 points but made only 11 of 32 shots.

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Utah 102, Sacramento 97 -- Andrei Kirilenko scored the final four points for the Jazz, who handed the Kings only their fifth home loss in 30 games. After Peja Stojakovic missed a potential game-tying three-point shot in the closing seconds, Kirilenko made a fastbreak dunk at the final buzzer.

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Boston 88, Toronto 75 -- In a matchup of teams with seven-game losing streaks at Boston, the Celtics got past the Raptors. The seven-game losing streak was the Celtics’ longest since they lost 10 in a row from March 20 to April 7, 2000.

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Detroit 105, Atlanta 83 -- At Detroit, Rasheed Wallace didn’t do much -- and didn’t have to -- against the team he played only one game for before being traded to the Pistons. He had six points and six rebounds. Detroit led by as many as 32 points in the third quarter.

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Milwaukee 106, Memphis 104 -- Keith Van Horn tied his season high with 30 points at Milwaukee in his first start for the Bucks. He came off the bench in his first four games after being acquired from New York on Feb. 15, but with Joe Smith out because of an injured left ankle, Van Horn started.

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Houston 89, Portland 85 -- A jump shot by Steve Francis gave the Rockets an 89-81 lead with 1:03 left at Houston, and they held on to end the Trail Blazers’ five-game winning streak.

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New Orleans 89, Indiana 77 -- At New Orleans, the Hornets took an 83-72 lead on P.J. Brown’s dunk with three minutes left and remained in control to get the victory and end the Pacers’ four-game winning streak.

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Phoenix 104, Seattle 99 -- The Suns, who have the worst record in the Western Conference (20-40), won for only the seventh time on the road this season.