Extra time allows team to finish on a high note

Long lottery odds aside, the Wolves battled to the wire, and longer, against Milwaukee before securing an overtime victory.

By JERRY ZGODA, Star Tribune

Last update: April 17, 2008 - 8:16 AM

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SEASON FINALE

WOLVES 110, BUCKS 101 (OT)

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A season that opened six months ago far away in Turkey and never seemed like it would end in November and December really wouldn't at Target Center on Wednesday night, when the Timberwolves went an extra five minutes to beat Milwaukee 110-101 in their season finale.

Point guard Randy Foye missed that season's first three months because of a kneecap injury, but he finished it with a flourish, supplying a career-high 32 points that included 10 of the Wolves' 16 points in overtime.

"What's five more minutes?" he asked.

Those five minutes produced the team's third victory in its final four games and its 22nd of the season, a number that tied the Wolves on the season's final night with Memphis for the league's third-worst record.

The victory diminished the team's probability of winning the draft's No. 1 overall pick from a 15.6 percent chance to either a 13.8 or 13.7 percent chance, which would be the third or fourth best, depending on the result of a blind draw Friday with Memphis. Last season, the Wolves tied with Portland for the sixth-worst record, the Blazers won the blind draw, the No. 1 pick and Greg Oden.

"We need to win games," Foye said on a night when the Wolves led by eight points early and trailed by 16 in the third quarter. "If we lose games, what does that say?"

The Wolves delivered everything with Wednesday's "Fan Appreciation Night," except perhaps what their fervent followers wished for most: A loss and the third-most lottery chances all to themselves.

They gave away 5,000 coin banks molded in the likeness of new star Al Jefferson, even if the young man himself thinks the little statue looks fat. Concession-stand hot dogs cost only $1. Lucky season-ticket holders took home giveaway prizes, such as a trip to Mexico and plasma televisions.

But the gift that keeps on giving -- a potentially better chance at landing either Kansas State freshman forward Michael Beasley or Memphis freshman guard Derrick Rose -- vanished with a comeback spurred by a 26-11 burst that ended the third quarter and began the fourth.

Jefferson played one minute in the fourth quarter and not at all in overtime.

They tied the game twice in the fourth quarter, the last time with 26.7 seconds left after rookie Corey Brewer stuck a contact back in his eye and then made two free throws that forced overtime when Rashad McCants missed a potential winning shot at the buzzer.

Foye outscored the Bucks by himself in overtime, 10-7. Included were consecutive three-pointers.

Foye didn't play a game until Jan. 29 at Chicago. The Wolves were 8-35 then, 14-25 thereafter. Their 22-60 record ties the inaugural Wolves team for the franchise's fifth-worst season.

"I don't think it's a coincidence that the second half of the year is when we started winning games," Wolves coach Randy Wittman said. "Having another option out there to make that quick decision, that's what winning games feels like. And we didn't have that."

The Wolves opened the season with a practice on Sept. 29 and end it unofficially when players take physical examinations this morning. Then they will scatter to Mississippi, New York, California, Chicago, Tennessee, Utah, Texas and points elsewhere for the summer or the rest of their careers.

"It was tough, it was trying," Wittman said of the season. "Istanbul seems like two years ago. It was also gratifying. This is a resilient group of young kids. Now we've got to add pieces. We've got to build this group. But we've got people here that we can build on."

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