Wolves record: 8-32
Al Jefferson pulled down a franchise-record 26 rebounds and scored 26 points for the Timberwolves, playing the team’s first ever three-overtime game.
The Rockets led most of the way, but Corey Brewer swished a half-court shot as the buzzer sounded in regulation to tie it at 89 and force an unexpected overtime period.
Make that three.
Brewer’s shot at the final buzzer of regulation tied the score 89-89 and sent the game to overtime.
Wayne Ellington kept things going from there, hitting a big three in each overtime until fouling out with 28.9 seconds left in the third OT. His three-pointer with 8.4 seconds left in the second OT tied the score at 105-105 going into the final OT. The Rockets finally seized control on Shane Battier’s three-pointer with 1:55 left in the period.
Love, incidentally, played fewer than two minutes in the three OTs when Wolves coach Kurt Rambis went with a small lineup to match the Rockets.
The Wolves led by four early in the second OT, but ultimately they were outdone by little Aaron Brooks, Houston’s third-year point guard who played more nearly 59 1/2 minutes and scored a career-high 43 points (including six threes) the night before his 25th birthday.