Tough night for Giddey as Timberwolves topple Thunder

Giddey was targeted throughout the evening by the vociferous locals who jeered the young Australian whenever he touched the ball.

The boos were as a result of the NBA's announcement on Friday (Sat AEDT) that the 21-year-old Boomers star was being investigated for allegedly having a relationship with an underaged girl.

The accusation was made in a social media post that has since been taken down, but the investigation is ongoing.

Despite the noise around him, Giddey enjoyed 28 minutes of court time for 10 points, six rebounds and one assist.

But it was not enough as the Timberwolves led by Rudy Gobert (17 points, 16 rebounds and four blocks) withstood an injury to Anthony Edwards to beat the Thunder at Target Centre.

Edwards had 12 of his 21 points in the third quarter to lead the Timberwolves back from a deficit they faced for most of the first half, before landing hard on his right side during a dunk attempt and leaving the game in pain.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 32 points on 13-for-22 shooting for the Thunder. His 37-foot try to tie at the buzzer, his only 3-point attempt of the night, was well off the mark. Brown made one of two foul shots with 4.5 seconds left to give the Thunder an opening.

The Thunder (11-6) had only 42 points in the second half and shot 6 for 26 in the third quarter against a Wolves team that leads the Western Conference with the best 17-game start in franchise history.

"Teams are going to throw different things at you when things are working. To their credit, they went zone," Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said.

In Dallas, Luka Doncic had 41 points, nine rebounds and nine assists, as the Mavericks prevented the Houston Rockets from advancing to the quarter-finals of the In-Season Tournament with a 121-115 victory.

Kyrie Irving added 22 of his 27 points in the second half for the Mavericks, who had already been eliminated. Their victory allowed the New Orleans Pelicans to win Group B in the Western Conference with a 3-1 record.

Dante Exum contributed 12 points and three assists for the Mavericks while compatriot and teammate Josh Green enjoyed 30 minutes on court for seven rebounds, two assists and five points.

In Boston, Jaylen Brown scored 30 points and Jayson Tatum 21 as the Celtics routed the Chicago Bulls 124-97 to advance to the quarter-finals.

The Celtics won a three-team tiebreaker with Orlando and Brooklyn via point differential to take Group C and earn the No.3 seed in the Eastern Conference. They will visit the No.2 Indiana Pacers next week.

Malik Monk hit a fadeaway with seven seconds left as the Sacramento Kings rallied late to beat Golden State 124-123 and advance to the quarter-finals.

The Kings won their group with a 4-0 record and will host New Orleans next week in the quarter-finals.

Sacramento needed a win or a loss by 11 points or fewer but ended up with the victory thanks to a furious comeback fuelled by two late turnovers by the Warriors.

Eastern Conference:

Indiana vs Boston (December 4)

Milwaukee vs New York (December 5)

Western Conference:

Sacramento vs New Orleans (December 4).

Los Angeles Lakers vs Phoenix (December 5)

Winners advance to Las Vegas for semi-finals on December 7, those winners to play December 9 for the NBA Cup.

with AP

Australian Associated Press