WASHINGTON - John Wall scored 21 points and equaled a career high with 17 assists and Rasual Butler had 23 points as the Washington Wizards won their fifth game in a row, 109-95 over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Tuesday night. Lonnie Walker Jersey .Washington scored 14 straight to take a 14-2 lead less than 4 1/2 minutes into the game. Wall had 10 points and six assists in the first quarter.Thaddeus Young, who led a third-quarter charge, had a season-high 29 points for Minnesota, which has lost nine of 10. Shabazz Muhammad had 21.Foul shooting badly hurt the Timberwolves. They shot just 20 for 35, and missed 10 of 14 in the first half as they trailed 46-36.Young led Minnesota back in the second half, scoring 19 points in the third quarter, shooting 9 for 10 from the field. The Wizards led 74-69 after three.Butler led Washington with 18 fourth-quarter points as it pulled away pulled away early in the quarter. They led by 89-75 with 8:43 to play.The Wizards are 18-6. Theyre 12 games over .500 for the first time since the end of the 1978-79 season.TIP-INSTimberwolves: C Ronny Turiaf was declared out for the season after arthroscopic surgery on his right hip. ... With three starters, G Ricky Rubio (ankle), C Nikola Pekovic (foot, wrist) and G Kevin Martin (wrist) out indefinitely, the Wolves are expected to ask for an injury waiver for an additional player. ... G Mo Williams returned after missing six games with back spasms and scored six points in 15 minutes.Wizards: F Paul Pierce missed his first game of the season with a sore right toe. Otto Porter made his first career start in his place. ... Coach Randy Wittman faced his friend Flip Saunders, having replaced him in January 2012. Wittman isnt surprised that Saunders is back coaching after spending last year in Minnesotas front office. Hes a coach. Hes a lifer, Wittman said. Thats who he is.UP NEXTTimberwolves: At Celtics on Friday.Wizards: At Miami on Friday. Tony Parker Jersey . Leaning forward with both hands on his knees, Buffon appeared to be resting or somehow trying to withstand the rain. Or perhaps the 36-year-old goalkeeper and Italy captain was reflecting on this: He is only the third player in history to be part of five World Cup squads, along with Germany great Lothar Matthaus and former Mexico goalkeeper Antonio Carbajal. Trey Lyles Spurs Jersey . The Force had two men, including former Wallabies No. 8 Ben McCalman, in the sin-bin in the dying minutes of the match, but were able to resist a late Highlanders surge to post a four-try, bonus point win. https://www.spurslockerroom.com/Trey-Lyles-City-Edition-Jersey/ . Future Hall of Famer Ricky Ray is in his prime and back for a third season in double blue. The 34-year old was magnificent in 2013, throwing for just under 2,900 yards despite missing eight games, tossing an impressive 21 touchdowns against just two interceptions, completing 66 per cent of his passes in the process.HOUSTON -- The Phoenix Suns did something against the Houston Rockets they had not done in their previous two games. Every time the Rockets made a run at the young Suns on Wednesday night, Phoenix responded. Eric Bledsoe had 20 points and seven assists to lead Phoenix to a 97-88 win over Houston on Wednesday night that snapped the Suns two-game losing streak. PJ Tucker added 18 points on 8-of-13 shooting with six rebounds. Channing Frye had 14 points on 6-of-12 shooting and grabbed six rebounds, and Goran Dragic chipped in 19 points on 6-of-11 shooting for the Suns, who shot 45.6 per cent from the field, including 45.8 per cent from behind the arc. "Throughout the year, we have had games where we have the lead in the fourth quarter," Phoenix coach Jeff Hornacek said. "We have blown some, and as a young team, that happens. You want to see the progress where that doesnt happen. They cut it down, and we could have gotten panicked where we forced shots, but we didnt." Dwight Howard had 15 points and 18 rebounds, Aaron Brooks added 17 points and six assists, and Omri Casspi had 14 points and seven rebounds for the Rockets, who lost their second straight game. James Harden, who was guarded by Tucker, finished with 14 points, hitting 3 of 17 from the field and going 0 for 10 from behind the arc. Patrick Beverley had 12 points and eight rebounds. Houston shot 35 per cent from the floor and turned the ball over 23 times. Houston coach Kevin McHale said the Rockets did not play very well. "In the first quarter, Phoenix came up and got real aggressive with us and were denying us around the court," McHale said. "We didnt handle that very well, and then you compound that with shots not going. We had no flow tonight. . I just thought the 13 assists, 23 turnovers, some really errant passing. We gave up 25 points off our turnovers, so we just fed them." The Rockets opened the fourth quarter with a 13-2 run to cut the Suns lead to 75-74 on Brooks 3-pointer with 7 minutes remaining. As they did throughout the game, the Suns responded, going on a 13-0 run over the next four minutes to expand the lead to 14 on Marcus Morris 3-pointer with 3 minutes remaining. Houston tried to answer, closing within 88-82 on an 8-0 run capped by Brooks 3-pointer with 1:49 remaining. "Playing on the road against the No. 1 offensive team in the league, you knoow they are going to make a run," Tucker said. Chimezie Metu Spurs Jersey. . "Its just one of those things where you keep playing hard and keep taking those shots. We started missing some shots, but we wanted to stick with it and pushing the ball back up." Again, the Suns would have an answer as Morris connected on a 3-pointer from the corner followed by two free throws from Dragic to push the lead to 11 with 1:15 left. "We know that Houston likes to push the ball," Dragic said. "In every NBA game, we know that every team is going to have a run. If youre solid on defence and play together on offence, I think we find the right open guy at the right time, and he makes shot. Thats huge play." Houston tried once more to slice into the lead, getting it down to seven points on Beverleys 3-pointer with 57 seconds left. Houston got no closer the rest of the way. Howard said the Rockets bad offensive night had nothing to do with them missing shots, the Suns "just played harder than us." "We cant give away games like this," Howard said. "It will come back to bite us in games later this season. Weve got to learn how, no matter how many guys we have out there, short-handed and all, weve got to play the same way, play hard and play aggressive." After the Rockets got to 63-61 on Garcias 3-pointer with 2:20 left in the third, the Suns finished the quarter on a 10-0 run, capped by two free throws by Markieff Morris to take a 12-point lead into the fourth. Houston opened the second half with an 11-4 run to get within 55-51 on Beverleys 3-pointer with 6:50 remaining in the third quarter. Phoenix used a 14-3 run over a three-minute span of the second quarter to take a 47-34 lead on Tuckers 3 with 3:09 remaining in the quarter. The Suns shot 50 per cent in the first half and took a 51-40 lead into the break. Houston shot 29.8 per cent in the first half. "We just didnt have enough energy," Harden said. "We didnt make shots on the offensive end or move the basketball, and they did." NOTES: Jeremy Lin sat out with a right knee sprain. ... Houston said centre Omer Asik will miss a week with a right thigh contusion. Asik will be re-evaluated at the end of the week. . Houston forward Chandler Parsons missed his second straight game with back spasms. . Phoenix centre Alex Len missed his eighth straight game with a sore left ankle. ' ' '