Wolves: Victory better late than never

OAKLAND, CALIF. - On the court they celebrated like the victory had come in May rather than in January. Unfettered, unabashed, joyful.

But that's OK.

This had been a long time coming: 16 road games, 56 days. The Timberwolves had been beaten on the road, beaten up by the road. So Monday, after Baron Davis missed a driving layup and Al Harrington missed the last-second tip, after the Oracle Arena buzzer signified the Wolves' 109-108 victory over Golden State?

You'll excuse the euphoria.

"Man, it feels good," said point guard Sebastian Telfair, smiling in his locker room chair after the game. "It feels so good to win I don't even need no Tylenol right now."

Pain? The Wolves had played well in Denver two nights before, to have the game turn at the end, at least in part -- they firmly believe -- because of questionable calls. But Monday, coach Randy Wittman said there was no question his team had played its best games, back to back, of the season.

"We were excited, as you could see, on the floor," Wittman said.

When it came down to it, the Wolves won by bucking seasonlong trends. Nine times they've had the lead or been tied going into the fourth quarter and lost, including Saturday in Denver. Monday they led 85-80 entering the final quarter and held on. Too many times they've been tentative down the stretch; this time, they were aggressive. Too many times they've let another team's surge break them.

This time they broke back.

"This is probably as good a job as we've done recognizing two things," Wittman said. "Recognizing mismatches and play off those guys. And recognizing who's hot, and running plays for those guys."

Those guys would be Ryan Gomes and Al Jefferson.

Gomes had 35 points and 11 rebounds. Thirteen of those came in the first quarter. More important, four of them came in the final 2:48 of the game, including two free throws with 54.5 seconds left to make it 109-108. Jefferson rebounded Davis' miss on the Warriors' next possession. After the Wolves failed to score at the other end with 6.9 seconds left, Davis missed what would have been the game-winner.

He was stunned. "I just can't believe I missed that layup," he said. "That's all I can say."

The Wolves might have been stunned a little, too, to see a break go their way.

But they earned it. All five starters scored at least 15 points, and three of them had double-doubles: Gomes, Jefferson (21 and 12) and Jaric (16 points, 10 assists), who came within two rebounds of a triple-double.

Minnesota got seven points off the bench, but all seven came in the fourth. Five came from Antoine Walker, who hit a three-pointer at 6:26 after a Warriors' three-point barrage had cut an 11-point Wolves lead to two. Walker also had a putback of Jaric's miss at 2:38 to give the Wolves a 107-105 lead.

The key was recognition. Down the stretch the Wolves called the same post play, with either Jefferson or Gomes getting the ball. Jefferson had seven fourth-quarter points, Gomes five.

Well, recognition and resilience. The Wolves turned the ball over only twice in the final quarter.

"We felt we should have beaten them the last two times," Gomes said of Golden State, which beat the Wolves three times before Monday. "They were able to win getting turnovers and fast-break points. They got a lot of that tonight, but in the fourth quarter we came together as a team."

They sure did. Especially after it was over. They came together and celebrated the team's sixth victory of the season.