The San Antonio Spurs remained perfect when it comes to responding after a rare loss. LaMarcus Aldridge scored 29 points on 11-of-13 shooting, David West added a season-high 18, and the short-handed Spurs bounced back with 116-91 road victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Tuesday.  The Spurs shrugged off Monday’s 99-91 setback at Indiana and moved to 10-0 following a loss, on a night when their “Big Three” of Tim Duncan and Argentine Manu Ginobili were rested while Frenchman Tony Parker sat out with a left toe contusion.    
“The guys were focused tonight,” said Aldridge after the Spurs avoided back-to back losses for the first time this season. “We knew we had to be better on both ends of the court ... and we were. We competed tonight.”
Kawhi Leonard scored 15 points, while recently acquired guard Andre Miller had 13 with five assists in place of Parker, as San Antonio (54-10), shot 56.9 per cent en route to its 15th win in the last 17 games.  Aldridge dropped in 19 points and the Spurs closed the first half on a 14-3 run to grab a 59-47 lead at the break.
A 17-8 third-quarter burst created more separation as the Silver and Black carried a 93-68 cushion into the final frame before cruising to its seventh straight win in the series.
Andrew Wiggins had 23 points, while Karl-Anthony Towns had 19 and nine boards to pace Minnesota (20-45), which lost for the eighth time in the last 11 games.
“They need to remember these losses though,” T-Wolves interim head coach Sam Mitchell said. “If you’re ever going to get better, if you’re ever going to win, you have to remember the times where you got your butt kicked.”

Portland Trail Blazers 116, Washington Wizards 109 (OT)
Damian Lillard fired in nine of his 41 points in overtime to go along with 11 assists, and the Trail Blazers (33-31) topped the stubborn Wizards to stop a three-game slide.
Ramon Sessions scored 21 while John Wall added 20 with 11 assists for visiting Washington (30-32), which lost its third in a row.

Toronto Raptors 104, Brooklyn Nets 99
DeMar DeRozan scored 25 points, Kyle Lowry had 23 with nine assists, and the Raptors (42-20) rallied from 16 down at halftime to clip the Nets for their 14th home win in the last 15.
Brook Lopez had 35 points with a season-best seven blocks for Brooklyn (18-46), which was outscored 62-41 in the final 24 minutes.

Atlanta Hawks 91, Utah Jazz 84
Jeff Teague scored 24 points, Paul Millsap had 18 and the visiting Hawks (36-28) beat the Jazz won for their fifth win in six games. Gordon Hayward netted 22 points for Utah (29-34), which was outscored 50-30 in the middle two quarters en route to its sixth loss in seven games.

Denver Nuggets 110, New York Knicks 94
Kenneth Faried collected 24 points with 10 rebounds, Nikola Jokic netted 20, and the Nuggets (26-38) won their eighth straight home game against the Knicks.
Carmelo Anthony tossed in 30 points against his former team as struggling New York Knicks (26-39), opened a season-high six-game road trip with their 17 loss in the last 21 games overall.

LA Lakers 107, Orlando Magic 98
D’Angelo Russell scored 27 points, Jordan Clarkson had 24 and Julius Randle added 23, and the lowly Lakers (14-51) beat the visiting Magic for their first two-game winning streak since January 3.
Victor Oladipo had 26 points and Frenchman Evan Fournier contributed 23 for Orlando (27-36), which dropped to 8-23 in 2016.