Wolves get biggest win in OT
Defense, clutch plays show what team is capable of
http://www.twincities.com/mld/twincities/sports/basketball/16379383.htm
After his team toppled the San Antonio Spurs with a thrilling overtime
ending, Kevin Garnett sat in his locker room stall and put perspective on the
Timberwolves' 103-101 victory Wednesday night.
Garnett's Wolves let a 17-point lead in the third quarter slip away but
pulled off their biggest victory of the season with a mix of defense and
clutch plays from Trenton Hassell, Mark Blount and Randy Foye.
The Wolves snapped a five-game losing streak to San Antonio, which began the
night with the best road record in the NBA. It's the type of victory that
could galvanize the up-and-down Wolves.
"It doesn't say squat if we don't do it consistently," Garnett said. "I don't
think the big question is, can we do it? It's, how often and how consistent
can we be with it? That's the question we face every night. We have to be
able to answer that question wholeheartedly every night."
Foye, a rookie guard, and center Mark Blount combined for eight of the
Wolves' 10 points in overtime. The Spurs had a chance to tie the score or
possibly win it with a three-pointer, but Hassell came up with a critical
offensive rebound that preserved the win.
With less than 30 seconds left, Garnett was double-teamed and forced to give
up the ball to Ricky Davis, who took an off-balance shot that missed. Hassell
emerged from a crowd with the rebound and quickly passed to Foye. The Wolves
swung the ball around and ran out the clock as the Spurs tried frantically to
foul.
"Me and (Michael) Finley were wrastlin' for it, and he kind of lost his
footing, and it went off his hand, and I just happened to be right there in
the right spot," Hassell said of the big rebound.
Those are the types of plays that win games. For the Wolves to win more
often, they must get contributions like those from more than one or two
players. That's what happened Wednesday night as the Wolves executed their
game plan well.
They kept San Antonio's duo of Tony Parker and Tim Duncan under control.
Parker had a tough time penetrating the lane. He had 19 points on 7-of-15
shooting with four assists.
Blount played solid defense on Duncan, who finished with 24 points, 13
rebounds and five blocks but didn't dominate the game the way those numbers
would suggest. Blount made 12 of 14 shots and finished with a season-high 28
points, one shy of his career best.
The Wolves did all of this, mind you, against a contender to win the NBA
championship. So why can't they play this way more often?
"That's just how it is," Garnett said. "Y'all expect it to be like that,
because Phoenix does it? Because Dallas does it? We're not Phoenix and we're
not Dallas. We're not a team that's been together. We're a team that's trying
to figure it out."
They did exactly that Wednesday night. Blount's jumper gave the Wolves a
95-93 edge for the first basket of overtime. Later, Hassell blocked Manu
Ginobili's layup attempt that preserved the two-point cushion. And with 2:02
left, Foye made an 18-foot jumper that extended the lead to 97-93.
There was a tense moment when Davis and Ginobili were hit with double
technical fouls when they tangled on the floor, but order was quickly
restored. With 1:29 remaining, Foye made two free throws that gave the Wolves
a 99-95 lead, but Parker answered quickly with a runner in the lane.
A free-throw contest ensued with teams trading fouls down the stretch, and
that favored Minnesota, a good free-throw shooting team. Ginobili and Parker
each missed a free throw with less than a minute remaining.
Then after Garnett missed a shot, Parker was fouled by Foye and made both
free throws, cutting Minnesota's lead to 103-101 with 34.2 seconds left.
The Wolves received nine points from Hassell in the first quarter and 10 from
Blount in the third. They were big contributions that contributed to
Minnesota's 81-71 lead heading into the fourth.
But down the stretch of the fourth quarter, turnovers hurt the Wolves. San
Antonio scored seven points off of four Minnesota turnovers to help send the
game into overtime.
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