Cavaliers dropped by Timberwolves

2/12/2013

CLEVELAND — Luke Ridnour scored 21 points, Ricky Rubio added 13 and 10 assists, and the Minnesota Timberwolves snapped an eight-game road losing streak, beating the Cleveland Cavaliers 100-92 on Monday night.

Ridnour dropped a critical 3-pointer with 1:43 left for the banged-up Timberwolves, who hadn't won on the road since Jan. 3 — star center Kevin Love's last game before he was lost indefinitely with a broken hand.

Nikola Pekovic added 16 points and 10 rebounds as Minnesota ended a four-game losing streak and improved to just 4-16 since losing Love.

Kyrie Irving scored 20 points and Tristan Thompson had 16 for the Cavs, who were within 82-81 in the fourth before Ridnour sparked a 10-2 run by the Timberwolves. Ridnour had 13 points in the final 12 minutes.

The Cavs were within striking distance when Thompson made two free throws to pull Cleveland within 92-89 with 1:56 remaining. But Ridnour, who always seems to play well against Cleveland, buried his key 3-pointer from the right side and hit another short jumper with nine seconds left to cap just Minnesota's second win in 12 games.

Derrick Williams had 13 points, and Mickael Gelabale and Alexey Shved added 11 apiece for the Timberwolves.

Down by eight, Minnesota went on a 14-0 run late in the second quarter to take a 47-41 lead. Shved hit a 3-pointer and scored seven points in the spurt.

Irving stopped the Timberwolves' spree with a 3-pointer, but he rolled his left ankle when came down and landed on Shved's foot. Irving hopped around in obvious pain but stayed in the game for a few more seconds. He was then replaced and limped to the locker room for treatment.

Irving came out after halftime and tested the ankle during warmups. He appeared to be OK, and dropped a short left-hander to open the third quarter.