Close loss no longer provides satisfaction

With their improved play in recent weeks came higher expectations, ones that weren't met in a nip-and-tuck affair vs. the Rockets. It took a clutch three-pointer by Tracy McGrady to clinch it.

By KENT YOUNGBLOOD, Star Tribune

Last update: February 6, 2008 - 12:50 AM

Three weeks ago the Timberwolves went to Houston and got run out of the gym. They played a Rockets team missing Tracy McGrady and lost by 31 points.

Monday was the rematch. McGrady was playing this time. But, then, so were the Timberwolves. In a testament to how far the Wolves have come in those three short weeks, it took some heroics by McGrady -- including an off-balance three-pointer with 30.8 seconds left with Rashad McCants draped all over him -- for the Rockets to escape with a 92-86 victory.

"We got blown out [in Houston]," Wolves forward Al Jefferson said. "And that was without T-Mac. We were playing like garbage then. We're playing well now."

That is one way to measure the growth of a team, the final score Monday compared with that night in Houston. Another is to gauge the mood of the Timberwolves locker room after letting the game -- one they led by a point with 1:38 left -- slip away.

Angry.

Not long ago this would have been considered a moral victory. That was back when the Wolves were desperately seeking something positive. To host one of the NBA's hottest teams and take them deep into the fourth? Feel-good time.

But not Monday. Nothing was easing the pain. Not 33 points by Jefferson. Not a wonderful floor game by point guard Sebastian Telfair (12 assists, no turnovers).

"We should have won," Jefferson said after the Wolves lost for the first time in five home games. It also broke a two-game winning streak overall. "I look at this game like I looked at the Denver game [a 111-108 loss in Denver Jan. 19]. We should have won this game.''

The Rockets came in having won three in a row -- seven of eight since McGrady's return -- and with a seven-game road winning streak. They got 26 points from McGrady and had four other players score in double digits.

The Wolves survived 16 turnovers and an eight-minute stretch from the third quarter until 7:10 remained in the game in which they scored only four points and the Rockets went up 10.

They rallied to take a one-point lead on Jefferson's tip of Ryan Gomes' miss with 1:38 left.

But key mistakes cost them the game.

First, the comeback:

McCants' three-pointer got the Wolves within six at 6:46. Jefferson's six-footer at 4:20 made it five. After a McGrady turnover, Gomes hit a three-pointer to make it two. Moments later Jefferson hit a 16-footer to make it one, then tipped in Gomes' miss and the Wolves led 86-85 with 98 seconds left.

But the Wolves didn't score again.

Jefferson blocked Carl Landry's shot, starting a fast break. But Gomes got the ball caught on his hip and was called for traveling -- a good call, he said later.

McGrady followed with a jumper with 1:10 left to give the Rockets a 87-86 lead. After a timeout, Telfair missed an 18-footer with 52 seconds left. Coming off a screen, and with McCants' hand in his face, McGrady's three-pointer 21 seconds later iced the game.

"We thought we had 'em," forward Craig Smith said. "We thought we had 'em on their heels. But they got a couple good plays. Nothing else you can say about that. They did an excellent job down the stretch."

After the game all the players talked about how far the team had come. But nobody was happy with having come up just short this time. And that might be the best sign of all.

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