Wolves record: 18-38

Box Score

 

The Timberwolves led by 16 points in the first quarter, eliciting boos from the Air Canada Centre crowd of 17,457.

But though the scoring was there for the Wolves, the defense was not, and the Raptors turned 66 second-half points into a 118-110 victory. The Raptors have beaten the Wolves in 10 consecutive games since they lost to Minnesota 108-97 on Jan. 21, 2004, in Toronto.

“They were on fire early,” Raptors coach Jay Triano said. “We had to call a timeout to see if we could cool them down a little bit.”

 

Toronto fell behind 49-33 with 7:41 left in the half, then closed the gap to one with a 17-2 run as Minnesota missed six straight shots. Sebastian Telfair ended the drought with a layup before a 3-pointer and two free throws from Gomes gave the Timberwolves a 56-52 lead at the break.

The Raptors opened the third with a 13-4 spurt, going ahead on a three-point play by Parker. Minnesota called timeout at 8:54 after Bargnani’s dunk, then came out of the break with an 11-2 run over the next two minutes. Gomes had 11 in the quarter, one more than Bosh, but Toronto took an 84-82 lead into the fourth…

Minnesota guard Bobby Brown, acquired from Sacramento in a deadline day trade last Thursday, made his Timberwolves debut in the second and finished with two points in five minutes. Forward Shelden Williams, who came over from Sacramento in the same trade, has yet to play in the three games since.

 

This time, the Raptors had back in the lineup Chris Bosh from a knee injury and Shawn Marion from last week’s trade that sent Jermaine O’Neal to Miami. This time, the Raptors eventually — once they quit squabbling with each other — played at a pace the Wolves simply couldn’t stop, not without Big Al’s low-post presence or the defensive acumen to slow it down.

 

0 Fourth-quarter minutes for rookie Kevin Love over the Wolves’ past two games.