Trouble finishing goes deeper, Wittman says

By JERRY ZGODA, Star Tribune

Last update: November 18, 2008 - 11:13 PM

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WOLVES NOTES Up next: 7 p.m. Wednesday vs. Philadelphia • Target Center • TV: FSN (1130-AM)

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The Timberwolves' inability to successfully finish games has been well documented, both last season and in this young one as the team lost eight consecutive games after a season-opening victory.

Their problems aren't limited, though, to just the final quarter, a fact that Wolves coach Randy Wittman emphasized after Sunday's 90-84 loss at Denver.

The Wolves were outscored 21-6, including 11 unanswered points, to the finish and allowed the Nuggets a 9-2 run to end the third quarter. That turned a nine-point lead into a one-basket advantage entering the final quarter.

Afterward, Wittman dismissed a reporter's notion that the Nuggets' comeback from another nine-point deficit, this one in the fourth quarter, started when Al Jefferson received a technical for protesting a late foul call on Kenyon Martin's missed dunk.

"No, c'mon," Wittman said. "The turning point was we were up nine with two minutes to go in the third and we were only up two going into the fourth. We gave away seven points in two minutes. That's where the tide turned on us a little bit."

Wittman lamented Kevin Love's succession of missed shots, including what he called "two point-blank layups" late in the third quarter.

"I'm just missing buckets," said Love, who made two of nine shots. "I give myself a couple chip shots, a layup. We let it get away a little bit at the end of the third quarter. Down the stretch, we've still got to get it done. We can't blame it all on the third quarter."

Wittman wasn't so sure.

"We have to close a quarter out," Wittman said. "It's those kind of little things that you have to take care of. Those two baskets, you've got to have. You don't make it and they do and now you go into the fourth quarter with a little bit of momentum taken away from you. If you hold that lead and now you come out in the fourth and push it, now it's 15, now it's 16 and now the pressure is on them instead of the other way around. That's my opinion."

Encouraging advice

During a break in the game after one of Love's third-quarter misses, veteran guard Kevin Ollie approached the rookie and purposely lifted his chin and offered encouragement.

"I missed two, three shots in a row, it's been that way the past two, three games," Love said. "All my shots have been right there. He just told me to keep my head up and those shots will go. I know they will. It's just frustrating when I see those shots so close, even that little layup I had. It's real frustrating."

Final assessment

Wittman, when asked whether he thought Jefferson's technical foul had an adverse effect on Sunday's game.

"Nah, no, that's an emotional deal. We got some tough calls down the stretch."

Etc.

• The Wolves didn't practice Monday after playing back-to-back games Saturday and Sunday. They will practice today in preparation for a tough four-game stretch before Thanksgiving that includes home games Wednesday against Elton Brand and Philadelphia and Friday against Kevin Garnett and the NBA champion Boston Celtics. The Wolves travel Sunday to Detroit and are back home Nov. 26 against Phoenix.

• The Wolves' marketing team got a break when the NBA suspended Garnett for tonight's game against New York rather than for Friday's game in Minneapolis. Garnett was suspended for hitting Milwaukee's Andrew Bogut in the face in a game Saturday. Garnett did not play when the Celtics visited Target Center last year because he was injured. Since he was traded in July 2007, he has not played in the arena he called home for 12 seasons.

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