Reid gets 31, Timberwolves jump on Lakers 127-117 in the absence of LeBron James, Anthony Davis

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Naz Reid hit six 3-pointers while scoring 31 points, and the Minnesota Timberwolves capitalized on LeBron James' absence and Anthony Davis' early exit with an eye injury for a 127-117 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday night.

Anthony Edwards added 26 points for the Timberwolves, who moved even with Denver atop the Western Conference at 54-24 with their seventh win in nine games. Minnesota didn't waste its golden opportunity to beat the surging Lakers, who played most of the night without their two superstars.

James stayed home with flu-like symptoms, missing his 11th game of his 21st NBA season. Davis then went to the locker room after getting hit in the face by Kyle Anderson while scoring a tip-in basket late in the first quarter.

The nine-time All-Star didn't return to the game, and Lakers coach Darvin Ham had no postgame update on his condition. Davis took another blow to his left eye, which already was injured from a hit taken last month in a game against Golden State.

“Obviously, we caught a break there,” Minnesota coach Chris Finch said.

Minnesota blew open a tight game without Davis patrolling the middle, putting up a 46-point second quarter. Los Angeles' supporting cast kept it close in the third, but Rudy Gobert scored six of his 18 points in the fourth quarter while Minnesota comfortably held on. Gobert also had 16 rebounds.

“Offensively, we were playing the right way,” said Nickeil Alexander-Walker, who scored 15 points. “Things just opened up because their defense was lacking length, and I think for us, we just kept making the right play. Coming down the stretch, Naz was making big plays. Ant was making the right read. All the talent we have was just able to come through and make shots, make plays.”

With an opportunity to be the No. 1 seed in the West for only the second time in franchise history, Minnesota rebounded from its worst offensive performance of the season in Phoenix last Friday. The Wolves and the defending NBA champion Nuggets meet in Denver on Wednesday, with Minnesota traveling to the second game of a back-to-back.

“I think all year it’s been a goal for us,” Reid said of the No. 1 seed. ”That’s something that we hunger for, and we talk about it all the time. Obviously we want the standings to be in our favor, so we’ve got to go out and make it in our favor.”

Rui Hachimura scored 30 points for the Lakers, whose four-game winning streak ended with only their second loss in 11 games. Los Angeles also fell right back into ninth place in the ultracompetitive West after finally moving up to eighth on Saturday for the first time since late December.

“It's tough already being without Bron, and then seeing (Davis) go out, it's tough,” Ham said. “But my hat is off to our guys. They didn't feel sorry for themselves. They kept competing all the way through. Just had some unfortunate possessions offensively. Guys not having their legs up under them (after) an 11-day road trip (with) six games, come back home and have a 12:30 game Saturday.”

Backup big man Jaxson Hayes had a season-high 19 points and 10 assists while playing 33 minutes in Davis’ absence, and Spencer Dinwiddie added 18 points and seven assists for the Lakers. D'Angelo Russell struggled when Los Angeles needed a huge game from its No. 3 option, missing 14 of his 19 shots to finish with 15 points and 11 assists.

Minnesota quickly broke open a close game after Davis left, streaking to a 79-64 halftime lead with Reid scoring 18 points in the second quarter. Reid, who also grabbed 11 rebounds, racked up 46 combined points in the Wolves’ two previous meetings with the Lakers.

“I just stand out in the lights,” Reid said with a grin. “I'm sorry. I don't know. I just go out there and compete, and it just happened to be on TV.”

Along with James, the Lakers held out backup point guard Gabe Vincent, who only returned from a lengthy injury absence four games ago.

UP NEXT

Timberwolves: Host Washington on Tuesday.

Lakers: Host Golden State on Tuesday.

AP NBA: https://apnews.com/NBA

Los Angeles Lakers forward Rui Hachimura (28) reacts after the Minnesota Timberwolves scored during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Sunday, April 7, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Etienne Laurent)

Minnesota Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert (27) scores during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Los Angeles Lakers, Sunday, April 7, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Etienne Laurent)

Minnesota Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert (27) dribbles past Los Angeles Lakers guard D'Angelo Russell (1) during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Sunday, April 7, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Etienne Laurent)

Minnesota Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert, left, defends against Los Angeles Lakers forward-center Anthony Davis (3) during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Sunday, April 7, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Etienne Laurent)

Minnesota Timberwolves forward Jaden McDaniels (3) dribbles past Los Angeles Lakers guard Spencer Dinwiddie (26) during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Sunday, April 7, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Etienne Laurent)

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks are holding relatively steady Tuesday as trading on Wall Street calms following some sharp recent swings.

The S&P 500 was 0.2% higher in afternoon trading, coming off a strong three-day winning streak. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 42 points, or 0.1%, as of 1:00 p.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.1% higher.

Kenvue, the company whose brands include Band-Aids and Tylenol, rose 6.1% after topping analysts’ forecasts for both profit and revenue in the latest quarter.

The Walt Disney Co. sank 10% despite reporting stronger results for its latest quarter than analysts expected. Its revenue fell a bit shy of forecasts, and it expects its entertainment streaming business to soften in the current quarter.

They’re among the tail end of companies reporting their results for the first three months of the year. The majority of companies has so far been beating forecasts for earnings, but they’re not getting as big a boost to their stock prices afterward as they usually do, according to FactSet. Not only that, companies that fall short of profit expectations have seen their stock prices sink by more the following day than they have historically.

That could suggest investors are listening to critics who have been calling the U.S. stock market broadly too expensive following its run to records this year. For stock prices to climb further, either profits will need to grow more dynamically or interest rates will need to fall.

The latter still looks like a possibility on Wall Street following some events last week that traders found encouraging.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell strongly suggested the central bank is still closer to cutting its main interest rate than hiking it, despite a string of stubbornly high readings on inflation this year. A cooler-than-expected jobs report on Friday, meanwhile, suggested the U.S. economy could pull off the balancing act of staying solid enough to avoid a bad recession without being so strong that it keeps inflation too high.

After charging higher through the start of this year as hopes dimmed for cuts to interest rates by the Federal Reserve, Treasury yields have been regressing this month to offer some relief for the stock market.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 4.43% from 4.49% late Monday. The two-year yield, which moves more closely with expectations for the Fed, slipped to 4.81% from 4.83%.

While yields have been declining over the last week, strategists at Wells Fargo Investment Institute still expect long-term yields to remain high for a while. That's in part because expectations are broadly for inflation to remain higher than hopes for some time. Luis Alvarado, global fixed income strategist, believes the 10-year yield will likely remain near its recent range.

Elsewhere on Wall Street, Crocs jumped 7.3% after reporting better profit and revenue than expected. It benefited from strong growth internationally.

International Flavors & Fragrances, which makes ingredients used in food and perfume, gained 4.9% after reporting better profit and revenue than expected. It also said it expects its revenue for the full year to come in at the higher end of its forecasted range.

Lucid Group tumbled 13.3% after the electric-vehicle maker reported a worse loss for the latest quarter than analysts expected.

Builders FirstSource fell 18.5% despite topping forecasts for profit and revenue. The supplier of building products said a weakening multi-family market and higher mortgage rates were creating challenges, and its forecast for how much cash it will generate this year came in below some analysts' expectations.

In stock markets abroad, indexes jumped 2.2% in Seoul and 1.6% in Tokyo but were mixed in the rest of Asia. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 advanced 1.4% after the central bank decided to keep interest rates unchanged.

European stock indexes also rose.

AP Business Writers Matt Ott and Elaine Kurtenbach contributed.

The New York Stock Exchange is shown on May 7, 2024, in New York. Wall Street shifted between small losses and gains before the opening bell as more corporate earnings arrive during what is otherwise expected to be relatively quiet week. (AP Photo/Peter Morgan)

People stand in the rain near an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei 225 index at a securities firm Tuesday, May 7, 2024, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

A person walks in the rain near an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei 225 index at a securities firm Tuesday, May 7, 2024, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

A person walks in the rain near an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei 225 index at a securities firm Tuesday, May 7, 2024, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)