Cavaliers survive late rally to hand Minnesota first loss with 93-92 win

Cleveland Cavaliers' Earl Clark (6) dunks against the Minnesota Timberwolves in the first quarter of an NBA basketball game Monday, Nov. 4, 2013, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Mark Duncan)

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Cleveland Cavaliers' Kyrie Irving had 15 points in the game tonight at Quicken Loans Arena.

CLEVELAND — C.J. Miles scored 19 points, Kyrie Irving added 15 and the Cleveland Cavaliers held off a late rally for a 93-92 victory over Minnesota on Monday night, handing the Timberwolves their first loss of the season.

The Timberwolves nearly erased a 23-point deficit midway through the third quarter to stay unbeaten.

Cleveland led 93-84, but was scoreless over the final 2:43. Kevin Love’s basket with 38 seconds remaining cut the lead to one point. Following a miss by Irving with 15 seconds left, the Timberwolves called timeout to set up the last shot. Love, the NBA’s leading scorer, missed a 3-pointer with 1.9 seconds remaining and the ball was tipped away as time ran out.

Kevin Martin led the Timberwolves with 23 points. Love added 17 points and 13 rebounds.