Another wasted opportunity: Ahead by 19, Wolves lose 111-103 to Thunder

There they went again.

Just like both those games against San Antonio, the one at Charlotte, last month's first meeting with the Thunder in Oklahoma City and probably a game or two (or more) that I'm forgetting, the Wolves again had a sizable lead tonight and lost to OKC at Target Center.

This time, they lead 40-22 after a first quarter in which they scored more than points than any quarter this season.

This time, they led by as many as 19 in the second quarter.

And, yes, once again this time, they watched it all fly away as all that beautiful ball movement in a first half during which Kevin Love once again had another double-double by halftime disappeared after halftime.

Afterward, Love told reporters: "It's hard to win in this league. That's been shown. We've done everything we can the first 3 ½ quarters for…we were trying to count it out in here and there were 7 or 8 games this year that could have gone our way and should have gone our way. We will get better. There'll come a point where we will turn that corner and figure it out. I don't know what it is. If we get tight or we forget what got us there. The ball did move so great in the first half. In the second half, we just kind of stopped. A lot of us were going isos, missing shots, a lot of shots didn't go our way. We just need to keep grinding it out and things will eventually turn for the the positive. We're right there. Not only us, you see it, the fans see it, everybody sees it. We're right there."

So what were the factors this time?

Who's the man?

Kurt Rambis afterward talked about how his team continues to search for "that guy" who'll calm his teammate and take over the game, like Oklahoma City's Kevin Durant does. And did tonight with two big threes in the game's final 13 minutes before he fouled out in the final minute.

Seems to me like the Wolves are going through the process of figuring out who's going to be that guy and how they're going to do it. They got that big lead by moving the ball and pretty equally distributing the scoring in the first half (Love had 15, Beasley 14, Pekovic 11, Brewer and Wayne Ellington eight each).

Then, when things got tight, it was every man – mainly Beasley and Love – for himself, trying to win the game by himself.

Love and Beasley combined to shoot 3 for 18 in the fourth quarter and time after time took the ball toward the basket only to have Serge Ibaka deny them. He did so eight times in the game, six times in a fourth quarter alone when the Wolves kept looking for foul calls that never came.

Offensively, Durant created his own shots when his team needed them most, something Love can't do and something opponents are learning to take away with Beasley, who loves isolations rather than pick and rolls because he can see the double teams coming but still goes left every time.

"Mike is going to become a lot better because he draws so much attention on the scoring end," Love said. "He's going to be able to make a lot more plays, get a lot more assists. That's something he's just going to have to figure out. Once his vision gets better, which it will, we're going to take that step up in the second half."

Defensively, Ibaka swatted everything in sight.

"He had us second guessing," Beasley said. "That's what you want players to do: Second guess their drives, their shots. He was amazing. It wasn't just blocking shots; he was going and getting it."

Missed free throws

"Michael's been in that situation a number of times," Love said. "There's no doubt that next time that comes around, he's going to make them. Same thing with me in San Antonio. I missed two in a row and I was so made at myself, I was telling myself I never miss two in a row. But stuff like that happens."

A steadying influence?

The Wolves signed Luke Ridnour for his experience, veteran leadership and steadying hand. Early in the season, he was efficient and it looked like the Wolves might have found their starting point guard no matter when Jonny Flynn came back healthy.

Now it seems clear that Ridnour is what he is, a very good backup in this league. With the game on the line too often this season, Ridnour has thrown the ball all over the place. Tonight, he committed a crucial turnover – his only one on a night when the Wolves uncharacteristically committed just 12, but had at least three costly ones – when he got stripped of the ball down the stretch. He also had no chance slowing down Russell Westbrook, but who does in this league?

Afterward, I asked Rambis if Ridnour had been giving the team that steadying influence and veteran leadership they had signed him for.

A marked man

Love had another double-double by halftime tonight, but in the second half he again discovered how opponents are going to gear to stop him. These last two games proved he's a beast on the backboards who's also got such great shooting range for a big man, but they've also reminded that he's not a guy who can create his own shot, like Amare Stoudemire did Monday in New York and Durant and Russell Westbrook did tonight.

"They were clamping in a lot," Love said. "They were just trying to make sure I didn't get any rebounds. They sent Serge Ibaka not even to get any rebounds. They were just face-guarding me and having him push me out. I still do my job on the offensive end as well as try to draw contact. A lot of calls could have gone our way, they just didn't."

Love admitted afterward that he needs to learn he doesn't need to go back right at the basket with a putback after he gets an offensive rebound. He and Beasley challenged Ibaka nearly every time in the fourth, and nearly every time got the ball swatted back at them. Sometimes, Love says, he needs to kick the ball back outside against a team with such length as the Thunder.

A few other things:

· * Love had his fifth 20/20 games – 22 and 21 – of the season. There have been ten 20/20 games this season in the NBA, and Love has half of those.

· * Wes Johnson said some soup he ate at his locker before the game and some fresh fruit was the first food he'd eaten in more than three days. He's felt too ill to eat since Sunday and said he guzzled Gatorade instead, but tonight he played nearly 43 minutes, most of those spent chasing Durant. The Thunder's superstar got his 30 points – 11 of them in the fourth – but he got into early foul trouble because the Wolves did a good job blocking his way to the basket and he fouled out late.

That's all I got from Target Center tonight.

Wolves practice Thursday, play Detroit at home Friday and then start a six-game trip Saturday at Chicago that takes them out for five games out West after that.