[外電] Wolves hit the break in style
http://www.twincities.com/mld/twincities/sports/basketball/16702190.htm
Leave it to the unpredictable Timberwolves to spend two quarters drenched in
apathy Wednesday night only to saddle up and grind out a pivotal victory
thanks to another clutch play by their rookie point guard.
Perhaps four days to rest and ponder the playoff potential lurking in the
30-game stretch drive will give Minnesota more time to iron out its fickle
play.
Despite getting steamrolled out of the locker room in the first and third
quarters, the Timberwolves dialed up the defense and nailed a series of
clutch shots to rally for a 99-94 victory over the Denver Nuggets at Target
Center.
Randy Foye's driving layup over towering center Marcus Camby gave the Wolves
a huge three-point lead with 23.3 seconds left.
Foye, who was virtually invisible throughout the game before the waning
seconds, followed that up by draining a pair of free throws with 14.7 seconds
left to seal the win.
Making his second straight start at point guard after coach Randy Wittman
benched Mike James, Foye scored only eight points. But five were in the final
five minutes. This after his drive and dish set up Ricky Davis' game-winning
shot Sunday night against Boston.
Equally clutch was center Mark Blount, who buried three jumpers and two free
throws to help the Wolves turn a five-point deficit into a 93-92 lead with
1:28 remaining.
Blount finished with a team-high 24 points on 11-of-19 shooting as he
continued to carry a hot hand. He is averaging 22.7 points in his past four
games.
"Mr. Consistency," backup forward Craig Smith said. "Night in and night out,
he puts up those kinds of numbers. Everyone knows he's capable of making big
shots. Tonight, he hit about three or four for us."
The Wolves (25-27) enter the all-star break having won three of four after
losing four straight to move within 1? games of second-place Denver in the
Northwest Division.
"This is definitely like two wins," said Kevin Garnett, who dominated the
boards with 17 rebounds to go with 19 points.
The Nuggets (26-25) were without injured star Allen Iverson, who remained in
Denver nursing a badly sprained ankle that will keep him out of this
weekend's All-Star Game.
Regardless, Minnesota trailed 20-9 six minutes into the game and held the
lead for only 2:01 total before Blount and Foye's heroics. They flailed away
underneath the basket and missed numerous uncontested shots in addition to
their ice-cold 3-for-13 production from three-point distance.
Defensively, the Wolves struggled to contain Denver big man Nene (18 points
on 7-for-11 shooting) and were torched by Carmelo Anthony, who finished with
a game-high 28 points.
But Wittman deployed more zone defenses down the stretch, forcing the Nuggets
into turnovers just as the Wolves found their legs and heated up from the
field.
"We had six or seven turnovers in the fourth quarter. It's tough to win that
way on the road," lamented Nuggets coach George Karl.
Foye was ineffective most of the night and found himself on the bench for
half the game while James ran the offense until running out of gas with five
minutes left.
"What I'm most proud of is, we had players who didn't have the best of games
but hung in there," Wittman said. "(Randy) struggled, yeah, and he's going to
struggle. We stayed with it. If we can get to where we're doing it, you stay
in games even though it's not going your way, sooner or later the tide's
going to turn."
Foye said it took a team effort for the Wolves to shake off a rocky start,
adding that the team's confidence is growing at the same pace as his.
"Early in the season, if something like that would have happened, that team
would have probably blown us out," he said. "If the shots are not going for
certain guys, they're doing other things to help the team, and I think that
was big for us tonight."
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