[外電] Wolves miss mark, and an opportunity
http://www.startribune.com/511/story/978312.html
Hugo the Hornet accidentally slammed into a female security guard during a
timeout early in the second quarter on Friday night, her head banging off the
hardwood floor in what turned into a scary but ultimately minor seven-minute
delay (she was OK, despite being hauled off on a stretcher). About five
minutes after the final horn, a photographer retrieving some equipment from
behind one backboard fell off his ladder, slamming to the same Ford Center
court and causing another cluster of nervous colleagues and helpers (he was
OK, too).
No one, however, came rushing over to assist the Timberwolves when they went
splat against the New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets, 90-83.
An inability to find any flow or attack the rim offensively, an over-reliance
on jump shots that betrayed them and another poor start doomed the Wolves
(22-24) to their eighth loss in 10 games. And now the trip really gets tough,
with a stop in Dallas tonight to face the NBA's best team.
Just four nights after they nailed 59 percent of their field goal attempts
against Phoenix, the Wolves misfired at a 38.8 clip, their second-worst
percentage this season and only the fourth time they've finished below 40.
Credit Hornets center Tyson Chandler (16 points, 18 rebounds, four blocked
shots) for making the middle unpleasant and forward David West for pushing
around Kevin Garnett as he tried to set up down low.
Blame the Wolves, though, for not fighting through it.
"I never felt we got anything really established inside," Wittman said. "Our
game became a jump-shooting, perimeter game. I never felt really comfortable,
from the standpoint of creating anything in the post. We didn't even want to
go in there.
"Then [Mark Blount] got hot making shots, and you fall in love with that a
little bit, too."
Blount, averaging only 11.4 points in his seven previous games, scored 10 of
his team-high 21 in the third quarter. But he was scoreless after that.
Garnett hit a meaningless three-pointer with 11 seconds left, boosting him to
17 points and 13 rebounds. Yet he did not shoot a single free throw.
"They packed the paint," Garnett said. "Tyson does a good job in homing in on
the ball. He stays between the ball and the man. ... We've got to be a lot
more aggressive."
Said Hornets coach Byron Scott, whose club leads the season series 2-1:
"Tyson did a great job of guarding one of the greatest players in the league."
Down 12-3 barely four minutes after tipoff and 18-7 midway through that first
quarter, the Wolves were on the wrong side of a 30-8 points-in-the-paint gap
by halftime. They hit six of their first 10 shots in the third, finally
taking a lead at 57-56 on Blount's jumper at 6:01. The Hornets (20-26) scored
the last six points of the period.
By that point, Minnesota had made nine of 11 free throws, the Hornets two of
six. Over the final 12 minutes, though, the Wolves shot four, the home team
15.
"That tells you right there we're not being aggressive," Wittman said.
A three-point play by Smith tied it 68-68 with 9:14 left to go. But the
Hornets outscored the Wolves 17-7 over the next seven minutes, while the
Wolves missed nine of 12 shots and watched their percentage drop like a
Warroad thermometer.
If Chandler was the game's best big man, point guard Chris Paul, playing in
his second game after missing 17 because of a sprained right ankle, was the
best little man on the court. He scored 24 points and dished eight assists
and got backcourt help from Jannero Pargo (13 points).
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