Wolves lose, but close

Cheap shot of the night: Kevin Garnett comes back to Minnesota, scores zero points in fourth quarter, gets outscored 10-0 by Oleksiy ``You call him Igor, I call him Egor'' Pecherov in the period. Some things never change.

As I said on Twitter, you knew Pecherov would be a player when he dominated the Transylvanian summer league.

Garnett reached in to force a jump ball on Corey Brewer's last-second drive. The Wolves thought it was a foul, and it probably was, but that's where Brewer's lack of strength and the Wolves' lack of respect in the league cost them. Who's going to get a borderline call in the last seconds, Garnett or Brewer?

Pecherov can shoot it, and he's tall, and he competes. On the same night I wrote that Al Jefferson isn't a triangle player, he scored 18, but drifted too far from the basket late in the game and forced some bad shots.

Rambis says Brewer can shoot 20 times a game and he's fine with it, but I see a player who can be valuable if he doesn't shoot. The Wolves probably win tonight if someone else takes Brewer's outside shots. He finishes 6-for-16, with one airball, one clank off the front of the rim, and one forced shot over a tall double-team.

Mr. Reusse is writing about the game for tomorrow's paper.

Maybe I'm getting impatient, but I like the fact that you can go to an NBA game, watch great athletes, and know the game will be over at 9:30 at the latest. I love baseball but 162 3 1/2-hour games, followed by a postseason that stretches into November, is a little much even for me.

Upcoming: I'll be on am-1500 with Reusse at 6:40, then WJON at 7:14. I'm on with Matt Thomas tomorrow night on am-1500. Follow me on twitter at SouhanStrib.

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