By ASSOCIATED PRESS
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Julius Randle scored 18 points and Rudy Gobert had 17 points and 12 rebounds to lead the Minnesota Timberwolves past the Los Angeles Lakers 109-80 on Monday night.
Naz Reid and Nickeil Alexander-Walker each scored 15 for the Wolves (10-10), who limited the Lakers to their lowest point total since a 122-73 loss at Dallas in 2017, according to Sportradar.
Anthony Edwards had only eight points on 3-for-13 shooting for the Wolves, but his Olympic teammates LeBron James and Anthony Davis were just as quiet for the Lakers (12-9).
James, who has missed 19 straight 3-pointers, had 10 points on 4-for-16 shooting. Davis had 12 points and 11 rebounds. D’Angelo Russell scored 20 in his return from illness and to the starting lineup.
After beating Utah 105-104 on Sunday, the Lakers traveled another time zone east to face a team they beat 110-103 in the season opener behind 36 points and 16 rebounds from Davis.
Meanwhile in Boston, Jaylen Brown scored 29 points, Jayson Tatum had 18 points and 11 rebounds and Payton Pritchard scored 25 off the bench as the Celtics beat the Miami Heat 108-89.
Derrick White added 19 points as the defending NBA champions won for the eighth time in nine games.
Jaime Jaquez Jr. had 19 points and 10 rebounds and Tyler Herro scored 19 for Miami. Herro was 2 for 10 from 3-point range, and the Heat shot 23% from beyond the arc and 36% from the field.
Both teams were without key players for the second night of a back-to-back after losing on Sunday.
Miami played without Jimmy Butler, who has missed five of the first 19 games with a knee injury. The Celtics were without Jrue Holiday, Al Horford and Kristaps Porzingis.
Miami scored the first seven points and then went cold while the Celtics ran off 17 of the next 19 points to take the lead. Boston made it a double-digit lead early in the second quarter and went up by 20 in the third.
In Chicago, Josh Giddey had 20 points, 13 rebounds and 11 assists, helping the Chicago Bulls beat the Brooklyn Nets, 128-102.
It was Giddey’s first triple-double of the season and No. 12 for his career.
Nikola Vucevic had 21 points and 10 rebounds for Chicago, which had lost three of four. Matas Buzelis scored 20 points on 7-for-10 shooting, and Zach LaVine finished with 18.
Brooklyn lost its third consecutive game — all in the last four days. Dariq Whitehead scored 18 points for the Nets, and Dennis Schroder had 16 points and 10 assists.
Brooklyn played without forward Cam Johnson because of a sprained left ankle — part of a long list of injuries for the Nets. He scored 26 points in Sunday’s 100-92 loss to Orlando.
Chicago guard Coby White also was sidelined by a sprained left ankle.
The Bulls started to pull away in the third quarter, outscoring the Nets 36-22 in the period. Buzelis’ basket off a pass from Giddey made it 92-72 going into the fourth.
Earlier in Atlanta, Trae Young had 12 points and 15 assists for his 15th double-double of the season, and the Atlanta Hawks beat the skidding New Orleans Pelicans, 124-112, for their fourth straight victory.
De’Andre Hunter scored a team-high 22 off the bench for the Hawks on his 27th birthday.
CJ McCollum led New Orleans with 29 points, one shy of his season high. Dejounte Murray, greeted by cheers in his first return to Atlanta since being traded by the Hawks last offseason, finished with seven points and 10 assists.
The depleted Pelicans (4-18) have lost nine in a row overall, and 11 of 12 on the road this season. The team’s long injury list includes star players Zion Williamson and Brandon Ingram.
