red 20 points for the Nets, who lost 96-80 in Toronto on Jan. 11, a night after they played two overtimes in a victory over Miami.Lowry scored six straight points before Amir Johnson made a pair of free throws during an 8-0 run that gave Toronto a 94-85 lead with about 8 minutes to play. The Nets answered with nine in a row to tie it on Alan Anderson's jumper, and after Valanciunas' basket, Pierce nailed consecutive 3-pointers to make it 100-96 with 2:37 remaining."Paul played well," teammate Kevin Garnett said. "He totally carried us for that fourth quarter, that second half, and we all came in and just said at the end of the game we've got to make plays,Nike Free 5.0 Red, we've got to close games out and tonight we didn't do that."Toronto cut it to one and had a chance for the lead when Lowry stole Williams' pass intended for Pierce, but Williams redeemed himself by drawing an offensive foul on Lowry with 19 seconds left. Pierce then made two free throws, but the Nets couldn't overcome Williams' next giveaway."Two turnovers in the last minute of the game, it's not what I typically do, but that's how it goes sometimes," Williams said.There were eight lead changes in an entertaining second quarter, two in the final 1.3 seconds. Anderson's 3-pointer put the Nets up by two, but Lowry beat the buzzer from beyond halfcourt to give Toronto a 57-56 halftime lead.Game notesDeRozan had made 125 consecutive starts. ... Ross, DeRozan and the Nets' Mirza Teletovic were all nominated for last week's Eastern Conference player of the week award, which was won by Atlanta's Paul Millsap.Copyright by STATS LLC and The Associated Press
Kevin Love scores 31 as Wolves beat short-handedBullsRecommend0Tweet0Associated PressCHICAGO -- Both the Chicago Bulls and the Minnesota Timberwolves were missing their starting centers.The Timberwolves were able to overcome the adversity.Kevin Love scored 31 points to lead the Timberwolves over the Bulls 95-86 Monday night. Ronny Turiaf added 14 points for the Timberwolves, who snapped a seven-game losing streak to the Bulls and won for the fourth time in five games overall.Timberwolves center Nikola Pekovic exited with a sore right Achilles tendon midway through the first quarter. Turiaf, who was averaging 2.3 points, scored a season high in his absence.More Wolves-Bulls CoverageWhat Kevin Love did to the Bulls on Monday night underlined how big a hole Joakim Noah's absence leaves in an already injury-depleted lineup, Nick Friedell writes.Story•Rapid Reaction•Bulls Blog | ESPN Chicago"He stepped up when Pekovic went out, and he brings a lot," Timberwolves guard Ricky Rubio said. "He brought everything he had."The Bulls were also without their starting center. Joakim Noah was sent home before the game due to an illness. Kirk Hinrich (strained right hamstring) missed his fourth straight game."They had some people out too, but we knew it was going to be a physical game," Timberwolves coach Rick Adelman said. "We knew how they were going to play, and I thought we responded pretty well."Carlos Boozer had 20 points and 14 rebounds, and D.J. Augustin added 19 points for the Bulls.Pekovic, who was averaging 18.4 points and 9.3 rebounds,Nike Free 5.0 LuckGreen, said he hopes his injury is not serious. The injury has been bothering Pekovic during the team's road trip, Adelman said. Pekovic had one point and one rebound in 6 minutes.In Pekovic's absence, Turiaf grabbed seven rebounds and had his highest-scoring game since he scored 19 points on Jan. 11, 2011, for the New York Knicks against the Portland Trail Blazers."My goal this year, regardless of the situation, is just to go out there and have some fun," Turiaf said. "No matter how much or how little I play,Lebron 10 MVP, I just want to have fun."The Bulls pulled within five with 1:29 left on Augustin's 3-pointer but got no closer. Love answered with a layup with 1:10 remaining, and Corey Brewer's dunk gave the Timberwolves an 88-79 lead with 57.4 seconds left.The Timberwolves improved to 2-11 on the road when scoring fewer than 109 points. Minnesota shot 46.6 percent compared to the Bulls' 37.6 percen