Wolves record: 4-21
Al Jefferson had 20 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Wolves (4-21), who were outscored 49-32 in the second half in losing their 11th straight game and dropping to 0-6 under coach Kevin McHale.
It has been 19 days between victories for the Wolves, who haven’t won since a 105-103 triumph at Oklahoma City on Nov. 28.
The NBA superstar arrived at Target Center on Wednesday night for his lone appearance there this season. His performance was so assured that he not only scored a seemingly effortless 32 points in Cleveland’s runaway 93-70 victory over the Timberwolves, he sang along and snapped his fingers in time to Christmas music during a first-quarter break.
Long before he and the Cavaliers scored 36 of the game’s final 50 points, James hopped up on the scorer’s table during a timeout and sang along with Brenda Lee’s oldie, “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree.”
Minnesota battled Cleveland throughout the first half of play and even cut the lead to just one point at the 3:26 mark in the third quarter behind an Al Jefferson jump hook in the lane. Two minutes later, James bolted down the court past three Wolves players on the fast break and finished with a thunderous one-handed dunk. As the crowd gasped, James reveled in the moment. The second half clearly determined the outcome of the contest with Cleveland outscoring Minnesota 49-32.
LeBron James looked relaxed as ever during a rather nonchalant night, a performance still impressive enough for the success-starved Minnesota crowd to warrant a standing ovation upon his departure from the court near game’s end…
Mike Miller was more aggressive than he’s been for most games this season for Minnesota, finishing with 14 points and seven rebounds on 7-for-12 shooting and Kevin Ollie threw in 12 points against one of his many former teams. But Wallace and Anderson Varejao helped limit Jefferson’s damage underneath, doubling him occasionally and clogging the driving lanes to keep the Wolves from finding an offensive rhythm.
They were outscored 36-14 over the final 16 minutes of the game, thanks in part to a final flurry by James.
0 Kevin Love’s points and Sebastian Telfair’s minutes.
8 Missed shots by Rashad McCants without a make.
UPDATE:
It was another long night in what has been a long season for Rashad McCants, who scored just two points in nearly 17 minutes and went 0 for 8 from the floor.
But at least he got in the game.
That’s more than could be said for Sebastian Telfair, one of four players who didn’t play by coach’s decision on a night when McHale decided to shorten his bench.
“We’ve got to get some guys getting a rhythm where they can go out there and play,” he said. “It’s hard because you can’t play all 12 guys. I tell you what, I’d rather not play a guy than play him four minutes. I don’t think that’s fair to the player.”
Telfair has proven himself capable of doing many of these things that McHale laments weren’t happening. On the other hand, Bassy was 2-15 FG over his previous five games. Other media members report that he bolted out of the locker room tonight without giving interviews. In retrospect, when your 23-year old point guard who you just signed to a $4.8 million two-year deal is unhappily out of the picture and the 35-year old point guard just went minus -21 in 25:48, the priorities look a little askew.
The team seems to have burned through the grace period of optimistic goodwill granted by Kevin McHale’s ascent (or, depending on how you view it, demotion) to Head Coach and that crushing but entertaining and well-fought loss to the Jazz. The bewildering blown layups and bricked jumpers of the losses to the Spurs and Lakers gave way, on Monday, to a hapless, defeated effort against the floundering Sacramento Kings–an unwelcome return to Wittman-era malaise. Not only are the Wolves now missing even relatively easy shots at a staggering rate (in the last four games they’ve shot: 41%, 36%, 42%, 41%), they’ve also returned to their nasty habit of forgetting to play defense for important stretches of the game–their soft pick and roll defense and slow rotations allowing open outside shots; their poor inside help giving free reign to penetrating guards.
