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Jerry Zgoda missed the entire Kevin Garnett era, but he's back covering the Timberwolves after working the beat for their first four seasons two decades ago. In between, he covered a bit of everything: Gopher men's and women's basketball and NCAA athletics, golf, outdoor recreation, sports media and a little Vikings and Twins.
Posts about Wolves postgame
Say what? Wolves rally, win in Denver 101-97 without Love
Posted by: Jerry Zgoda Updated: January 4, 2013 - 2:45 AM
OK, so let the great debate continue:
Are the Timberwolves better without their best player, Kevin Love?
Denver coach George Karl contributed to the discussion after he watched Love leave Thursday's game in the third quarter clutching that right shooting hand again and then saw the Wolves quickly wipe away a 10-point deficit and beat his team at home for only their second loss in 12 games there this season.
The only other team that has beat the Nuggets at Pepsi Center?
Not the L.A. Clippers, who had their 17-game win streak end there on Tuesday.
Yes, that's right: The defending champs, Miami, is the only other team to win there this season, on Nov. 15.
That was an eight-game home winning streak in between losses.
One night after that stinker in Utah, the Wolves won while Love went to the locker room to discover he appeared to sprain the third metacarpal -- one of two bones he broke in October -- on that shooting hand and then came to watch some of the fourth quarter from the bench.
They did so with Dante Cunningham taking over for Love at power forward in a final quarter when Derrick Williams and J.J. Barea also stepped forth.
And guess what?
WIthout Love, the Wolves defense, particularly in transition, improved noticeably and Barea took over offensively with a strategy that often appeared to be: Give him the ball and get the heck out of the way.
No telling how long this latest setback with that hand will last.
Is it time to rest the hand for some time and get it completely healthy without him continually banging it?
Love wasn't talking after the game. He hid out in the training room, reading something and not getting treatment, well after the game and didn't want to talk to reporters.
Karl did.
"I think Minnesota at times plays better without Love," Karl said afterward. "They're kind of a machine-like offense. They give guys different opportunities. But they're pretty good."
OK, so short term, with Love struggling so, they're better.
Anybody here willing to argue long term they're better without him.
That's just plain silliness, but I know you're out there, so pipe up...
Postgame: Wolves heating up in December
Posted by: Kent Youngblood Updated: December 29, 2012 - 10:41 PMBy ending a two-game losing streak the Wolves improved to 14-13 tonight. And while that might not seem particularly stunning, consider this: It is their best start after 27 games since 2005-06.
The Wolves finished this month 7-5, their first winning record in December since going 8-6 in 2004.
Before tonight’s game coach Rick Adelman was talking about how good his team has been in the face of multiple injuries and a revolving, changing lineup. Well, the Wolves did it again Saturday. Ricky Rubio started suffering back spasms in practice Friday. He was still sore Saturday and, after trying to warm up before the game, became a late scratch.
But, playing with a three-guard rotation, the Wolves figured out a way to win. Luke Ridnour struggled with his shot, but made a big baseline jumper in the fourth quarter. Alexey Shved finished with 12 points and 10 assists and J.J. Barea scored 10 points. The three guards combined for 26 points, 19 assists and six turnovers.
Here are some other observations from this evening:
--Sid Hartman makes a better door than window. Sir Sid stood up for the final moments of the game, making it rather difficult for the scribes sitting behind him to see the action.
--Boy did Nikola Pekovic rebound from an illness-induced, two-point performance against Houston. Pek was unstoppable for the Wolves tonight, especially late. He has been the Wolves’ leading scorer in five of the last nine games.
--Shved continues to grow. He had 10 points and five assists in the second half.
--The Wolves front court of Pekovic, Kevin Love and Andrei Kirilenko combined for 71 points and 34 rebounds.
That’s about it for tonight. Have a great weekend.
Wolves lose another lead, and game 87-84 to Houston
Posted by: Jerry Zgoda Updated: December 27, 2012 - 12:48 AMHave you seen this before?
Yes, seven times now.
That's how many times the Wolves have held a double-digit lead this season, and still lost the game.
No. 7 came Wednesday night, when they had a 14-point advantage in the third quarter and still came undone in a fourth quarter when James Harden scored 17 of his 30 points.
Here's the game story from tonight focusing on Harden's night juxtaposed against Kevin Love's lousy shooting night.
And here's Pat Reusse column on Kevin McHale's return to Target Center with a remade Houston team that now has won five consecutive and seven of its last eight.
And here's a bunch of scattershot stuff from this evening:
* Love missed his final seven shots, made just 3 of 14 field-goal attempts for the night and didn't score in the game's final 40 minutes -- that's right, not since he scored with 3:54 left in the first quarter -- on a night when Harden was unstoppable in the fourth after being relatively quiet for three quarters.
Included for Love: Two missed open threes in the final three minutes, including one with 47 seconds left that would have put the Wolves up by four. Or "the dagger," as Andrei Kirilenko suggested it would have been afterward.
* Love's troubles were magnified because Nikola Pekovic struggled with his illness beside him.
Big Pek left the game in the second quarter, returned near the end of the third and played just 23 minutes, makign one of seven shots and scoring two points with seven rebounds along the way.
* The Wolves sold nearly 1,000 standing-room only seats before the game and the announced crowd of 20,340 was the third-largest in Target Center history. It also was the second sellout of the season.
* The Rockets had scored 120 points in each of their last three games and might have needed almost another half to get there on Wednesday, but it didn't matter. They won anyway, winning a game they probably had little business winning.
* The Wolves continue their auditions to replace injured/waived Josh Howard, but don't be surprised if they don't sign anyone until NBA teams can start signing players to 10-day contracts on Jan. 7.
They had former Spurs forward and former Toronto/Denver/Cleveland swingman Joey Graham in Wednesday for workouts. They've also looked at former Wolves forward Lazar Hayward, but the guy they just might end up targeting is European small forward Mickael Gelabale, a versatile defender who played for France in the London Olympics and has an NBA -opt out with his Spanish team through Jan. 30.
That's all I've got from Target Center.
There should be video up on our main Wolves page here by more with locker-room interviews with Rick Adelman, Love, JJ Barea and Andrei Kirilenko there.
The Wolves practice Thursday and Friday, but don't play again until Saturday against Phoenix at home.
Wolves stop that streak at 12, beat OKC 99-93
Posted by: Jerry Zgoda Updated: December 21, 2012 - 3:24 AMTwelve was the number Thursday night at Target Center.
They ended Oklahoma City's 12-game winning streak, dating to the day after Thanksgiving, with a wire-to-wire 99-93 victory.
It was also their first victory over the Thunder after losing the last 12 between the teams, dating to 2009.
Here's the game story from Thursday night. focusing on J.J. Barea's big fourth quarter, when he scored 12 straight for the Wolves.
Here's the notebook with the top item about Ricky Rubio's third night back from that knee surgery.
And here's a piece on the team waiving Josh Howard Thursday because of that torn ACL and what they might do now.
Here's a few other quick teams from the game:
* Did you see that ball movement, particularly in the first half?
That's why that advance scout from another NBA team watched the Wolves play in New Orlenas last week and remarked that they look like a mini-version of the Spurs, because of the way they execute Rick Adelman's offense.
They had 22 made field goals in the first half, and recorded assists on 20 of them. Alexey Shved had eight of those, and he finished with a career-high 12.
"That's the best half we've had: 20 assists, five turnovers," Rick Adelman said. "The first half was terrific the way we moved the ball, very unselfish."
Nikola Pekovic scored 18 of his 24 points in that first half, just setting screens and rolling to the basket time after time.
When everybody left the locker room afterward the game except him for him and Barea, I got a laugh out of the big fella when I ask why he didn't pivot and roll to his locker room when he went to retrieve his jacket before heading into the night.
* Kevin Durant scored 33 points, and Andrei Kirilenko still did a fine job shadowing him all night.
Whenever Durant was on the floor, so was Kirilenko, except for about a minute, 45 seconds. AK played 39:30, Durant more than 41 minutes.
"It kind of wears him out, but I told him next game you got an easy one in Anthony," Adelman said, referring to New York's Carmelo Anthony on Sunday. "He's had LeBron, Durant and now Anthony."
* Kevin Love looked more like the guy you saw score 51 points in that double-overtime loss at OKC last March. He found his three-point touch (4-9), moved the ball for seven assists and scored 28 and grabbed 11 rebounds.
"I thought he was terrific," Adelman said. "He was really active. He was aggressive taking his shot. I think he's been holding back a little bit, trying to make things happen, thinking too much about it instead of just going out playing. I really like the way he passed the ball tonight."
* They finally made some three-point shots, going 9 for 20 Thursday after going 17 for 65 in their last three games before that.
"I told the coaches we'll frame this one," Adelman said. "Nine for 90 is like a dream for us."
* And they helped force Russell Westbrook into a bad shooting night. He made just 9 of 28 shots, but still almost pulled a most rare quadruple double: 30 points, 11 rebounds, 9 assists...AND 8 turnovers.
That's it from Target Center for the evening.
The Wolves will take Friday off so the guys can Christmas shop or whatever they want and will practice good Saturday before flying to New York.
Expect Brandon Roy to practice Saturday for the first time since his arthroscopic surgery last month.
Also expect my colleague Kent Youngblood to blog at you after practice that day and I'll pick the team back up on Sunday for that pre-Christmas matinee against the Knicks.
Wolves double up Heat on boards, still lose 103-92 in Miami
Posted by: Jerry Zgoda Updated: December 19, 2012 - 1:14 AMGo figure this: The Wolves grabbed 21 of the first 24 rebounds Tuesday night in Miami, held a 28-10 advantage by halftime, lapped them 52-24 by game's end and Kevin Love outrebounded the Heat all by himself for most of the night and...
The Wolves still lost, ending this quick two-game Florida trip 0-2 with a 103-92 loss tonight at AmericanAirlines Arena.
Here is the game story from Tuesday's game. focusing on Love's call for the Wolves to get tougher and more physical.
And here is the notebook from tonight on Ricky Rubio not playing tonight and other stuff.
There also should be post-game locker room video up here in the morning as well.
"I don't know how many times I've seen that, where you get doubled up on rebounding and still are able to escape with a win," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. "That's a tough team. They're unique, relentless on the glass. There's not that many teams like that, that have multiple guys who just continue to hit the glass.
"We improved on the first half, when it was 28 to 10. I don't think I've ever seen that number. They were absolutely annihilating us on the glass."
That lopsided rebounding advantage didn't hold up. for a number of reasons.
Two of them had something to do with guys named LeBron James and Dwyane Wade.
James came within three rebounds of a triple-double and Wade gave Wolves rookie Alexey Shved a hard dose of reality,
Wade scored all of his 24 points in the first three quarters, then sat down.
James then took over, playing the entire fourth quarter -- and 42 minutes for the night -- when the Heat ran its lead to 19 with 7:10 left before the Wolves got back within eight in the final two minutes no closer.
You knew it was a blowout when Lou Amundson entered the game with 7:09 left.
Shved, btw, went 2-for-15 from the field in these two games in Florida the last two games. He was 1 for 8 in Orlando and 1 for 7 tonight in Miami.
The Wolves, of course, were playing shorthanded yet again.
This time, they only had three healthy guard -- starters Shved and Luke Ridnour, backup J.J. Barea -- and Rick Adelman improvised by playing power forward Dante Cunningham at shooting guard some against Wade.
The Wolves' rebounding bulge also didn't stand up because the Heat countered with some lopsided numbers of their own:
* The Heat had 14 blocked shots, the Wolves had one.
* The Heat had 24 fast-break points, the Wolves had eight and once again they lamented about not getting back in transition defense.
* And Miami had just eight turnovers to the Wolves' 19.
Tuesday's game was the start of a three-game stretch where the Wolves play teams with three of the league's six best records.
Oklahoma City -- and its 11-game winning streak -- is Thursday night in a special 6 p.m. TNT game at Target Center and then they play the Knicks in Madison Square Garden on Sunday afternoon.
The Wolves will take tomorrow off.
I'll blog at you again from Target Center on Thursday.
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- What will it be tonight for Wolves?
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