NBA on Jan. 20: Derrick Roses sinks game-winning perimeter shot

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The 2018-19 NBA regular season saw three games on Sunday. The Minnesota Timberwolves defeated the Phoenix Suns 116-114 at home thanks to perimeter shot made by Derrick Rose in the last 0.6 seconds. The Los Angeles Clippers that lacked two of their key scorers claimed an upset victory against the San Antonio Spurs 103-95 at the AT & T Center.

Derrick Rose saves Timberwolves with 29 points in second half

Derrick Rose #25 of the Minnesota Timberwolves drives to the rim in the game they win against the Phoenix Suns 116-114, January 20, 2019. /VCG Photo

Rose scored Minnesota's highest 31 points, including 29 in the second half of the game. Karl Anthony-Towns dropped a double-double of 30 points and 12 rebounds plus four assists and four steals. Andrew Wiggins remained cold with his hands and made only three of his 14 shots to get 10 points.

T.J. Warren achieved the highest 21 points for Phoenix. Devin Booker and Kelly Oubre Jr. both scored 18 points. Dragan Bender took a double-double of 12 points and 10 rebounds. Josh Jackson scored 15 points from the bench.

Devin Booker #1 of the Phoenix Suns shoots a three-pointer in the game against the Timberwolves, January 20, 2019. /VCG Photo

Though the Suns lacked their one-year overall-first-pick Deandre Ayton, they were leading for most of the time in the game and even managed to expand their lead to 11 points twice in the second and third quarter respectively. The team's bench players made big contributions with 30 points.

By contrast, though Towns dropped 28 points and six rebounds for the Timberwolves, his efforts and the 13 points by Taj Gibson were not enough to help their team turn the situation. Rose stood out in the third quarter and scored 17 points in this quarter alone and continued his outstanding performance in the last quarter with another 12 points.

Derrick Rose #25 of the Timberwolves makes the game-winning shot in the game against the Suns, January 20, 2019. /VCG Photo

The game remained a stalemate in the last two minutes when Phoenix led 114-111. Towns who scored only two points in the second half helped his team in another way. First, he grabbed an offense rebound which turned to a dunk by Gibson. Then he stole the ball from Booker, helping Rose to earn two free throws. Having made one of them, Rose tied the score 114-114 for Minnesota.

Then Booker, with 31 seconds to go, made the same mistake again by rushing into Minnesota's defense and turned the ball over to the opponent, leaving 23.6 seconds for Rose to finish his last attack. Rose handled the ball in front of 2.01-meter Mikal Bridges, stepped back and then sank a perimeter shot like he had done so many times before to help the Timberwolves put an end to their two straight losses while leading the Suns to their fourth consecutive defeat.

Clippers win thanks to perfect play by Tobias Harris

Tobias Harris #34 of the Los Angeles Clippers shots in the game they win against the San Antonio Spurs 103-95, January 20, 2019. /VCG Photo

Tobias Harris carried the offense for the Clippers by dropping 27 points, nine rebounds, nine assists, three steals and no turnover. Patrick Beverly and Montrezl Harrell both scored 18 points but 1.85-meter Beverly took the team's most 12 rebounds. Avery Bradley scored 15 points, five rebounds and four assists, including making three of six 3-pt shots.

San Antonio had only three players scoring double digits. LaMarcus Aldridge dropped 30 points and 14 rebounds. Rudy Gay delivered a remarkable efficiency of 75 percent for a field goal (9/12) to score 19 points and eight rebounds. Marco Belinelli from the bench had 12 points. DeMar DeRozan shot 16 times but only made four of them, getting only eight points.

Montrezl Harrell #5 of the Clippers attacks the basket in the game against the Spurs, January 20, 2019. /VCG Photo

Without Danilo Gallinari, the Clippers chose to present a small-ball first-lineup with 2.03-meter Harrell as the center. Thanks to the speed and mobility of the squad, the Clippers kept scoring in the paint and forced the Spurs to commit consecutive turnovers which were then turned to early offense points. After the first quarter, the Clippers led by 12 points (38-26) and the Spurs never caught up in the rest of the game.

As DeRozan could not find his shooting target, Aldridge became San Antonio's most important weapon in the offense. However, the team seemed unable to keep passing the ball to him, leading to lack of consistency in scoring which was lethal since they were trailing and could not stop the Clippers from scoring.

LaMarcus Aldridge (L) of the San Antonio Spurs handles the ball in the game against the Clippers on January 20. /VCG Photo

In the last four minutes when they trailed by nine points (85-94), San Antonio presented a squad made up of Aldridge and four 3-pt shooters so Aldridge could use his threat in the paint to create opportunities for the shooters outside. However, in three minutes, the shooters failed to receive the ball, not to mention stretch out for Aldridge. In the end, the Spurs had to see their two-straight winning trend coming to an end.

The other game on Sunday was between the Charlotte Hornets and the Indiana Pacers. Having five of their players scoring double digits, the Pacers claimed a big win of 25 points (120-95) against the Hornets at home.