Wolves let Clippers steal a victory

This time Minnesota didn't make it to overtime, as Kevin Garnett's fadeaway jumper kicked off the rim as time expired in a one-point loss.

By Steve Aschburner, Star Tribune

Last update: January 10, 2007 - 11:10 PM

The Timberwolves didn't so much lose to the Los Angeles Clippers as they ran out of time.

Overtime, to be precise. Those five extra minutes that had been so helpful to the Wolves lately.

Any hope the Wolves might have had of playing in and winning what would have been an NBA-record fourth consecutive overtime game fizzled in the final seconds of regulation of a 92-91 loss at Target Center on Wednesday night. First, the point differential clicked to one when rookie Randy Foye missed the second of two free throws with 52 seconds left. Then Clippers swingman Corey Maggette salvaged a second-chance possession by draining a 16-footer from the right side at 4.8 seconds.

Finally, in what played out like a "Groundhog Day" slice of repetitious life from the left side, Kevin Garnett caught an inbounds pass, squeezed off his signature fadeaway jumper with time expiring and saw the ball kick off the rim.

Thus, a situation that might not present itself for weeks or even months came up four times in the Wolves' past three games. Garnett missed from the left side at the end of regulation against Philadelphia on Friday, then nailed it on a reload to win in OT that night.

Garnett missed at the end of regulation Sunday, but the Wolves beat Houston in overtime. Then he missed again Wednesday night, a little more out front on a shot he will take, in similar circumstances, today, tomorrow and however many days after that the Wolves keep feeding him the ball.

"Felt good," Garnett said. "I came to the end [of the court], the first thing Troy [Hudson] said to me was, 'Man, I thought that was in there.' It left my hand, I got the shot I wanted. That's all you can ask for. ... You've got to have the ability to take 'em and the confidence to take 'em."

Their four-game winning streak ended, the Wolves (17-16) don't prefer an element of surprise in that scenario.

"I'll take that," coach Dwane Casey said. "He's wide open. Straight on line. That's a great look. We had two options -- Ricky [Davis] over the top or to Kevin at the elbow. [Elton] Brand dropped back off to take Ricky. We'll take that shot. I'll live and die with it. He's our guy. We'll take that shot any time."

It's not as if Garnett lost the ball or had one blocked. "With KG, [defense] doesn't really matter," Clippers coach Mike Dunleavy said. "He turns that right shoulder inside of 20 feet and it's just a roll of the dice. The numbers just went our way."

So did a pair of loose balls on the Clippers' last gasp. They trailed 91-90 after Trenton Hassell's step-in jumper with 25.3 seconds left and scrambled on their final possession. Cuttino Mobley got the ball and headed toward the basket, missing a short jumper but grabbing the rebound. The ball squirted to Brand, who heard Maggette behind him and shoveled over the ball.

Said Brand: "I heard [Maggette], he said, 'EB.' We've been playing together a long time, so I am accustomed to his voice, and he knocked it down."

Winning on the road for only the fifth time in 18 tries, Los Angeles (17-19) used a zone defense to test the Wolves' shooters, who started poorly. Foye missed nine of his 10 attempts and Mike James was 0-for-5, not enough point guard production when the other guys have Sam Cassell (18 points), the former Wolves guard always eager to sting his old team.

Defense had nothing to do, though, with 12-for-18 free-throw shooting, including Foye's miss that would have made it 90-88. But don't blame the rookie; none of his teammates even got to the line in the second half.

With even one, the Wolves might have earned another overtime.

"It wouldn't have been tough," Garnett said. "It would have been like a cross-country race. We've been there before. Like Lance Armstrong, we know that it's coming and you kick it into third gear."

The only kick this time was Garnett's shot, off the back of the rim.

Steve Aschburner • saschburner@startribune.com