Ryan Gomes scored 26 points, reserve Rashad McCants had 24, and
the Minnesota Timberwolves beat the New York Knicks 114-93 on Saturday
night.
 
The Timberwolves (18-51) and Knicks (19-50) are in the NBA’s bottom
five, fighting for draft position and figuring out which young players
are keepers over the season’s final weeks.

 

 
Also from Campbell:
Minnesota’s Mark Madsen entered in the final minutes, his second appearance in the last 20 games, and was loudly cheered… 
 
 
 
Wolves record: 18-51
 
 

 

 
In other words, it was over early, as the Wolves emerged from Target
Center with a 114-93 victory. The Timberwolves barely missed a shot in
the first quarter of Saturday evening’s contest, scoring a season-high
42 points on 17-of-23 shooting to bury a Knicks team that would trail
by as many as 23 and never really threaten Minnesota’s lead.
 
 
 
By the time it was all over, the Wolves also tied their season high for
assists with 29, scored their most fast-break points (25) since March
31, 2006, shot 67.5 percent in the first half and won for the sixth
time in their past nine games and for the 13th time in their past 30
after they beginning the season 5-34.
 
They also matched their largest margin of victory this season on a
night when star forward Al Jefferson delivered eight points and a
career-high six assists before sitting the entire fourth quarter with
the game already well in hand.
 

 
The most entertaining aspect of tonight’s game is not the action on the floor. It is watching the expressions of Al Jefferson’s family members–most noticeably, his father–who are a couple rows behind the Timberwolves bench. Even during the Wolves amazing first quarter in which they scored 42 points, Papa Jefferson is deadpan. The only expression seen from the man wearing an army hat was on an assist from his son to Craig Smith where he clapped briefly. 
 
 
 
He set the pace early for his team, with 10 of his 26 points and five of his eight rebounds in the Wolves’ 42-point first quarter.