[外電] Mavs frustrate, then praise Garnett
http://www.startribune.com/511/story/980654.html
Kevin Garnett looked like he was ready to melt down.
Halfway through the third quarter Saturday, the Timberwolves were down by 17
points and seemingly out against the Mavericks in Dallas. Garnett already had
lost 6 minutes, 47 seconds of the second quarter, pulled with three fouls by
coach Randy Wittman, and had just coughed up consecutive turnovers for five
of Dallas' points in a 10-2 run. Now the Wolves' All-Star forward was deep
into the second half, still in search of his first rebound.
Early in the fourth quarter, Garnett actually looked ready to square off with
Mavericks center DeSagana Diop. But the moment passed, Garnett hit jumpers
from both baselines and quickly a horrible night turned into something worthy
of his scrapbook: 19 points and 12 rebounds in the second half, and two more
baskets that had Minnesota within 92-90 with 1:43 to play.
"These last couple of games have been like crap," Garnett said when asked
afterward about his play. "I'm just trying to figure it out and get some
momentum going into the fourth. ... Just couldn't turn the corner, man."
The Mavericks took Garnett away as an option after that, using Josh Howard to
stay between him and the ball at all times. That enabled them to escape with
a 94-93 victory. It also had the Mavericks offering huzzahs to Garnett, after
what had begun so miserably.
"KG is a tough cover," coach Avery Johnson said. "He saw Diop tonight, then
he saw [Erick] Dampier and then he saw Dirk [Nowitzki]. We had to give him
some different looks because he is such a good player."
The Wolves need a victory. For the second time in 10 days, they will try
against the Rockets tonight to salvage a multigame trip on the final stop.
"We're trying to get some consistency around here, man," Garnett said. "Witt
told us this was probably going to be the toughest part of our schedule. And
when he said that, he wasn't lying."
A Wittman trait?
The Wolves will say they've been in position to win all seven games since
Wittman took over on Jan. 23, but that blurs things a little. They weren't
ready at all against Sacramento last Wed- nesday and started badly against
New Orleans on Friday.
But one noticeable improvement since the coaching switch has been some
renewed defense late in games. In the fourth quarters of Wittman's seven
games, the Wolves have allowed 34.7 percent shooting (42-for-121) and an
average of 20.0 points. In their previous 20 games, they were at 50.8 percent
and 25.0 points. And in the first 20 games this season, the Wolves yielded
38.9 percent shooting and 21.9 points.
Monday morning QB
After Ricky Davis missed a 15-footer at 94-90 with 9.9 seconds left, Howard
rebounded and heaved the ball high into the backcourt. Randy Foye retrieved
it and hit a three-pointer as time ran out. That had Witt- man
second-guessing himself afterward.
"In reality, sitting here now, I probably should have called timeout," he
said. "I think that was, realistically, maybe the only chance we had to win.
Get a timeout, hit a three real quick, foul, and throw one in from
three-quarter court."
Tough task: Only 3.9 seconds remained when Foye ran down Howard's toss.
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