[外電] Wolves show late life
http://www.twincities.com/mld/twincities/sports/basketball/16898678.htm
There's a saying that the fourth quarter is the only one worth watching in
the NBA.
How does this stat grab you: The Timberwolves have an NBA-leading 11
victories when trailing after three quarters. They also have blown 10 leads.
Tuesday night was one of the good games for them. The latest comeback came
courtesy of a zone defense that rattled the Indiana Pacers and a plucky
lineup that delivered down the stretch. The Wolves struggled through three
quarters but came alive in the fourth for an 86-81 victory at Target Center
that sent the Pacers to their 10th consecutive loss.
Kevin Garnett scored 30 points and had nine rebounds to lead the Wolves, who
trailed by 14 in the third quarter, nine to start the fourth.
The Pacers, led by Jamaal Tinsley's career-high 37 points, shot just 3 for 15
(20 percent) and committed four turnovers in the fourth quarter.
"That zone was huge, no question," said Wolves coach Randy Wittman, whose
team is one game behind the Los Angeles Clippers for the Western Conference's
eighth and final playoff spot.
Wittman's team has a habit of playing down to the level of competition, so it
wasn't surprising when the Wolves sleepwalked through three quarters against
the Pacers, who are on their longest losing streak since 1988-89.
The victory snapped a two-game skid and ensured that the Wolves won't have to
think about a losing streak heading into Friday's meeting with Golden State —
the start of a five-game road trip.
"For us, it's big to win every night," Wittman said. "Forget that we have a
five-game trip."
Wittman has used various lineups in recent weeks looking for something that
works for a team that is 3-8 since the all-star break. At least for one
night, he found it with a group that produced an 18-1 run to start the fourth
quarter.
Rashad McCants, Marko Jaric, Randy Foye, Craig Smith and Garnett were the
only Wolves who played in the fourth quarter, except for Ricky Davis' 14
seconds at the end of the game.
Garnett dunked along the baseline. Then Jaric stole Mike Dunleavy's pass and
pushed it ahead to Foye, who hit a layup and was fouled. Foye missed the free
throw, and the deficit was 68-65.
After a lob pass produced a Smith layup, Jaric hit a three-pointer with two
seconds left on the shot clock for a 71-68 lead with 8:52 left. That marked
Minnesota's first lead since it was ahead 21-20 early in the second quarter.
Smith's hook made it 73-68 with 6:41 left.
The Wolves took a 76-68 lead when Foye hit a three-pointer with 4:43 left.
"What we have to do from here is find guys that are going to play," Wittman
said. "We searched. I am not going to lie to you. We were close to searching
even deeper in the third, and then we kind of found that niche with Randy,
Craig, Rashad, along with K.G. and Marko. If it went to double or triple
overtime, they were not coming out."
The Wolves were outscored 13-10 the rest of the way, but by that point they
had done enough to win the game, as it turned out, against a Pacers team that
played without all-star Jermaine O'Neal, who missed the game because of a
sprained left knee.
The Wolves won despite letting Tinsley break out of his shooting slump. He
shot 13 for 26 after going 24 for 71 (33.8 percent) in his previous six
games. But he played like an all-star this time.
The Pacers went cold in the fourth. They had just three points in the quarter
after Tinsley's free throws with 4:27 left. And they didn't make a field goal
until Tinsley's three trimmed Minnesota's lead to 78-75 with 3:16 left,
snapping a 0-for-7 start.
"I think we've really bothered teams with that," McCants said of the zone,
"and tonight was a great example of how we get a team frustrated and take
them out of the game."
The Wolves' much-maligned bench outscored Indiana's 36-13.
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