MINNEAPOLIS – Sam Cassell had a triple-double despite being guarded by defensive specialist Bruce Bowen, and Minnesota extended its Midwest Division lead to three games by defeating San Antonio 86-81 Tuesday night.

Cassell had 14 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds for the third triple-double of his career and his first this season. He shot just 2-for-11 from the floor but went 10-for-11 from the free throw line, including four crucial foul shots in the final two minutes.

Kevin Garnett scored 27 points and Latrell Sprewell added 20 as the Wolves won their third straight and extended their lead over the Spurs to three games.

The Spurs have lost four consecutive road games.

It was a much different scene than when the teams played last Thursday, the Spurs embarrassing the Wolves 106-86 in San Antonio.

Duncan led San Antonio with 26 points, but missed a pair of critical free throws that would’ve given the Spurs a two-point lead with 2:17 to play.

Suns 103, Cavaliers 86

CLEVELAND – Joe Johnson tied a career-high with 31 points and the Phoenix Suns hurt Cleveland’s playoff hopes with a 103-86 win.

It was the third straight loss for the Cavaliers, who began the night just a game ahead of Boston and Toronto for the eighth playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

LeBron James nearly pulled Cleveland back into it several times, scoring 19 second-half points. But Johnson and Amare Stoudemire made key baskets each time the Cavaliers started to gain momentum.

Stoudemire had 21 points, 11 rebounds and two blocked shots. Shawn Marion scored 20. The Suns won back-to-back games for the first time since winning four straight in mid-January.

The Cavaliers shot a season-low 31 percent. James finished 8-for-21 for 25 points.

Jeff McInnis started after missing two games with a bruised right shoulder, even though he wasn’t 100 percent. It affected his shooting as he went 0-for-7. He scored eight points from the foul line and had five assists.

Grizzlies 95, Raptors 86

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Pau Gasol scored 29 points, Stromile Swift added 21 points and 13 rebounds and the Memphis Grizzlies forced the Toronto Raptors to miss two-thirds of their shots in a 95-86 victory Tuesday night.

Gasol shot 10-of-16 as Memphis won for the 10th time in 12 games.

Vince Carter, who led Toronto with 30 points, keyed a fourth-quarter rally, but the Raptors could get no closer than six on two occasions. Toronto’s 33 percent shooting was a season-low for a Memphis opponent.

Hornets 82, Pistons 81

NEW ORLEANS – Jamaal Magloire’s last-second jumper gave the New Orleans Hornets an 82-81 victory over Detroit, snapping the Pistons’ eight-game winning streak.

Chauncey Billups made a 3-pointer with 17 seconds left to put Detroit ahead. The Hornets responded by going inside to Magloire, whose first shot was blocked out of bounds by Ben Wallace with 5.3 seconds left.

On the inbounds play, David Wesley went up for a perimeter jumper and Wallace blocked that shot, too, but Magloire grabbed the ball out of the air, turned and swished a jumper. He was mobbed by teammates while several Pistons collapsed onto the court.

Magloire finished with 17 points and 13 rebounds, while Wesley scored 19, going 3-of-4 from 3-point range.

Nets 84, Bulls 81

CHICAGO – Lucious Harris started for the injured Jason Kidd and scored 19 points with three key fourth-quarter baskets Tuesday night to help the New Jersey Nets defeat the Chicago Bulls 84-81.

Richard Jefferson led the Nets with 20 points, and he and Harris each had 10 rebounds. The Nets broke a three-game losing streak and are now 1-2 without injured stars Kidd and Kenyon Martin, both of whom have knee injuries.

Jamal Crawford scored 34 points to lead Chicago but missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer that would have tied the game.

Harris’ 3-pointer just before the shot clock expired put the Nets ahead 77-75 with four minutes left, and then he hit two more jumpers to keep New Jersey in front.

Jazz 85, Wizards 77

SALT LAKE CITY – Andrei Kirilenko was all over the stat sheet and engineered a scintillating fourth-quarter sequence that led the Utah Jazz past the Washington Wizards 85-77 Tuesday night.

Kirilenko had 19 points, eight rebounds, seven assists, seven blocked shots and four steals as the Jazz moved half-game ahead of Denver for eighth place in the Western Conference.

Raja Bell scored 19 points and Gordan Giricek had 12 points for Utah.

, which has won five of six at home.

Late the fourth quarter, the Jazz had scored just two points in a five-minute span and the Wizards closed to 74-71 on Etan Thomas’s follow shot. Kirilenko made a 3-pointer and blocked Larry Hughes, leading to Giricek’s layup.

After keeping the ball alive with three tips on a missed shot, Kirilenko made three of four free throws to clinch the win – Utah’s sixth in eight games.

Hughes scored 23 points for Washington but was blocked twice by Kirilenko in the final minutes. Steve Blake scored 16 points and Mitchell Butler added 11 for the Wizards, who have lost nine of 11.

The Wizards were outscored 42-18 in the paint, and Blake – a point guard – led the team with 10 rebounds.

Though the Jazz had every reason to be determined and gain ground in the playoff race, they played sloppy and sluggish. The crowd elicited as many groans as cheers as Utah seemed out of sync and struggled to beat the shot clock on several second-half possessions.

But the Wizards, without injured Gilbert Arenas, could not overcome the play of Kirilenko.

Washington had 23 turnovers. After the Jazz threw the ball away late in the game, the Wizards ran a play for a 3-point shot to try and get within four, but Blake passed the ball 10 feet above Christian Laettner’s head and out of bounds.

Arenas, the team’s leading scorer at 20.1 points a game, did not dress due to a sprained right ankle. The Wizards were a step slow all night and allowed 27 fast-break points for the Jazz.

The Jazz began the third quarter with a six straight points to lead 58-40 and seemed destined to put away the hobbled Wizards. But Butler’s 3-pointer capped a 12-1 run as Utah scored just one point in a span of more than five minutes.

Blake scored 14 of his points in the first half to keep the Wizards close, but Bell came off the bench to counter with 14 points to lift Utah to a 52-40 halftime lead.

The Wizards, who shot 35.4 percent, began their five-game Western road swing in familiar fashion. Washington lost its fifth straight away from home and dropped to 1-8 in Western Conference arenas.

Notes: Before the game, the Wizards activated Chris Whitney from the injured list and replaced him with first-round draft pick Jarvis Hayes, who was averaging 9.6 points and 4.0 rebounds. … When Washington coach Eddie Jordan yelled at official Bernie Fryer about Mikki Moore’s hard foul on a fast-break drive by Butler, Fryer shook his head and said, “Momentum, Ed. That was momentum.” … Referee Tony Brothers left in the fourth quarter with chest pains. The game’s final few minutes were refereed by just two officials.

AP-ES-03-23-04 2345EST