Wolves record: 2-8
From Brian Murphy/Pioneer Press:
The Timberwolves’ late-game meltdowns this season were so prevalent that their 11-point lead over the Philadelphia 76ers after three quarters Wednesday night wrought a sense of here-we-go-again doom.
Two Sebastian Telfair turnovers in the first two minutes of the fourth quarter prompted coach Randy Wittman to pound the scorer’s table in disgust and call time out to smolder as the Target Center crowd groaned.
Instead of collapsing, the Wolves turned in their finest 12-minute effort of the still-young season to pull out a 102-96 victory that halted an eight-game losing streak.
Mike Miller buried a long three-pointer with 30.4 seconds remaining to blunt Philadelphia’s comeback and allow the Wolves to taste victory for the first time in 21 days.
A surprise star of the game led the Wolves to a 102-96 victory, to snap an eight-game losing skid. “The Rhino” jumped off the bench for 21 points, a season-high. Craig Smith worked on both ends of the floor; defensively he battled Sixers star, Elton Brand.
“Craig Smith was huge off the bench tonight, coming in and giving us two halves that was probably the best he’s played this year,” Randy Wittman said.
“They were desperate,” 76ers sixth man Willie Green said. “They had a sense of urgency all game long. They wanted it more than us. It was obvious.”
Six of Minnesota’s defeats came by six points or fewer and with the Timberwolves ahead at some point in the fourth quarter. It looked to be going that way again against Philadelphia when Andre Iguodala’s three-point play cut an 11-point lead to 92-91.
They were repelled because the Wolves played through their star, Al Jefferson, when it mattered most. Smith’s energy — and his 21 points off the bench, 13 before halftime — brought the Wolves back from early deficits of 12-3 and 19-6.
But it was their determination — and the insistence of Randy Foye, who returned to the starting point guard job for the first time since the season’s fourth game — to get Jefferson the ball that ensured they didn’t go four more minutes down the stretch without a point, as they had done too often in an eight-game losing streak that matched last season’s longest.
Randy Foye returned to the starting point guard spot tonight for the first time since the season’s fourth game. He replaced Sebastian Telfair, who has barely played in the last three games while Foye has shaken off his early-season malaise and has played better in recent days.
7 Minutes Rashad McCants played before leaving the game in the second quarter because of back spasms.