Parker's one good half sinks Wolves

Bruce Bisping, Star Tribune

Minnesota's Craig Smith drives past San Antonio's Tim Duncan in the first half of Friday night's NBA game.

There were no off-the-charts numbers from Tony Parker, but the Wolves were mired in a deep shooting funk when he started to hit after the break.

By BRIAN STENSAAS, Star Tribune

Last update: December 13, 2008 - 7:36 AM

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SAN ANTONIO 98, WOLVES 86 Up next: at L.A. Lakers • 8:30 p.m. Sunday • TV: Ch. 45 (1130-AM)

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Tony Parker needed 2 1/2 quarters to get going this time against the Timberwolves. As it turns out, that was his plan.

Parker, who dropped 55 points against the Wolves on Nov. 5 at Target Center, didn't score until 6 minutes, 18 seconds remained in the third quarter Friday.

From there he scored 16 more, all in the fourth quarter, leading the Spurs to a 98-86 victory. The Wolves have lost eight consecutive games for the second time this season.

Afterward, Parker divulged his sneaky plan.

"The first three quarters, I was looking at it," he said. "I was like, 'Oh, I'm coming. I'm coming.' So I knew in the fourth quarter I was going to be more aggressive."

It turned out to be the difference.

The Wolves, who had San Antonio in a 41-41 tie at halftime, lost most of their upbeat spunk in the second half.

Despite allowing Parker to again do his thing, joining Tim Duncan with a team-high 17 points, the Wolves had chances. They got through traffic and to the rim on numerous occasions but could not finish.

Several easy shots -- particularly layups -- appeared scared of the bottom of the net.

That resulted in players' heads sagging to the court.

"You can't get much better than layups, and we're missing them," Wolves coach Kevin McHale said. "... But the hanging the head we can't have, and that's what happened. I think we started feeling sorry for ourselves and thinking, 'How in the heck am I missing these shots? I've made them my whole life and I can't make one now.' That's unacceptable."

Point guard Randy Foye said there is no excuse for letting emotions rule.

"I think sometimes when guys make a mistake -- wait for a dead ball to get down on yourself or say something to yourself or hit yourself," he said. "The main thing [Friday] was when we missed shots, missed layups, we put our head down. And we can't let that happen."

The announced crowd of 15,336 started to get on the Wolves in the fourth quarter after Rashad McCants missed a finger-roll layup and a Foye-to-Al Jefferson pass went awry on the next possession.

"We had some mental breakdowns, and you can't have that," McHale said.

Shooting guard Mike Miller returned after missing the Wolves' previous four games because of a sprained right ankle.

He made only one of five shots in 33 minutes, about 12 more minutes than McHale said he should have played Miller on his still-sore ankle.

Miller disagreed.

"I'm fine. You can't play too much," Miller said. "There's going to be soreness; I sprained it pretty good [Dec. 3]. I'll be fine, I just appreciate the opportunity to go out there."