Lakers lose 5 in row while the Cavs win over the Celtics

(Basketball news) Los Angeles Lakers continued their poor form, losing their 5th match in a row to the Minnesota Timberwolves 111-101. For the Wolves, Anthony Edwards scored 16 of his 29 points in the third quarter, Rudy Gobert added 22 points and 21 rebounds as Karl-Anthony Towns scored 14 of his 21 points in the fourth quarter and D'Angelo Russell had 11 points. For the Lakers, LeBron James scored 28 points as they were without Anthony Davis due to low back tightness while Russell Westbrook came off the bench for the first time since his rookie season and chipped in with 18 points and eight rebounds. With his eighth field goal as LeBron James recorded his 1,135th career 20-point game, passing Karl Malone for the most such games in NBA history.

''I see a ton of growth opportunity within it on both sides of the ball, with the bench, with everything with the lineup combinations,'' Timberwolves coach Chris Finch said. ''I'm a prove-it-to-you guy. I still want to see it more.''

''I think our offense is harming us right now,'' James said. ''Defensively, once again, we had a great game plan. We went out and competed, gave ourself a chance. Couple possessions here, couple possessions there didn't go our way, but just keep hammering on.''

''I just think for us we have to continue to utilize what we have,'' Towns said of putting the game away inside with Gobert. ''Keeping the game simple, utilizing the advantages we have against teams with how big our lineup is, just continuing to trust each other in the offense and do whatever the game is telling us to do.''

The Cleveland Cavaliers continued their fine start to the season after they beat the Boston Celtics 132-123 in overtime. For the Cavs, LeVert and Donovan Mitchell each scored 41 points, the last time they had multiple 40-point scorers was Game 5 of the 2016 NBA Finals, when LeBron James and Kyrie Irving both had 41. For the Celtics, Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown led scoring for Boston with 32 points each. The Cavs trailed by as many as 15 points in the first half and overcame a 75-point first half by the Celtics to earn its fourth straight win.

''For us to have the mental fortitude this early as a younger team that's honestly trying to get to where the Celtics were last year and continue to build, that says a lot about our character without our elite guard, too,'' Mitchell said.

''We have to make winning plays,'' Celtics interim coach Joe Mazzulla said. ''We can't take anything for granted.''

''You can go one of two ways at that point,'' Mitchell said. ''We continued to claw back,''

The other result were: