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MINNEAPOLIS - Corey Brewer matched the franchise record with 51 points and Gorgui Dieng’s basket in the final seconds gave Minnesota a 112-110 victory over visiting Houston Friday.
Brewer made 19-of-30 from the field to tie Kevin Love’s team record for points in a game and added six steals as the Timberwolves won for the fourth time in six games. Dante Cunningham recorded 20 points and 13 rebounds, Dieng scored 12 and grabbed 20 boards for Minnesota, who played without Love (elbow injury).
James Harden played through a shin injury to register 33 points, 10 assists and six steals for Houston. Chandler Parsons scored 27 points while Omer Asik added nine points and 15 rebounds for the Rockets.
Jeremy Lin’s 3-pointer and a dunk by Parsons tied the game at 103 with 2:03 left before Brewer hit two free throws and assisted on Dieng’s jumper for a four-point lead. Harden drained a 3-pointer with 17 seconds remaining to tie the game at 110 before Ricky Rubio (16 points, 10 assists) set up Dieng’s winning shot with 4.6 seconds left.
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Parsons and Lin hit 3-pointers to ignite a 14-4 run for Houston before Brewer hit a 49-foot shot at the buzzer to bring the Timberwolves within 63-59 at intermission. Harden’s long 3-pointer at the buzzer put Houston up 84-82 after three quarters, but six straight points by Brewer had Minnesota up 90-87 with under nine minutes to go.
NOTES: Brewer’s previous career high was 29 points last season against Philadelphia. ... Houston C Dwight Howard (ankle) sat out for the 11th time in the last 13 games. ... Along with its leading scorer and rebounder Love, Minnesota was without G Kevin Martin (foot) and C Nikola Pekovic (ankle).
