Ellington experiences highs, lows within days

INDIANAPOLIS - In a matter of days, Timberwolves guard Wayne Ellington's life went from solemn to celebratory.

A day after he returned from his uncle's funeral in Philadelphia, Ellington was mobbed by joyous teammates as he came to the bench after making a crucial three-point shot late in Tuesday's victory at Houston, the Wolves' second victory in as many nights on the road.

Ellington scored a career-high 18 points that night, including that vital three with 54 seconds left that turned a one-point advantage into a 108-104 lead.

"I went through a tough situation with my family, but I couldn't wait to get back and reunite with my teammates," he said. "We've got a great group of guys so I knew when I got back, everybody would be laughing and joking. When I got back, everything was good."

Good enough that the Wolves won consecutive road games for the first time since April 2009, when they won back-to-back-to-back at Utah, the Clippers and Golden State -- only days after Ellington won an NCAA title with North Carolina.

This time, the Wolves won at New Orleans on Monday and at Houston on Tuesday with Luke Ridnour and Martell Webster out both games and Michael Beasley and Darko Milicic out on Tuesday. Against the Rockets, that was three-fifths of their regular starting lineup.

"I think we're all just picking up for each other," said Ellington, a second-year shooting guard. "... We don't have guys out there worry about themselves. Everybody's working as one."

The Wolves took Wednesday off after playing four games in five nights and practiced in Houston early Thursday afternoon before flying to Indianapolis.

Now, that's a streak ... Kevin Love's 38-game double-double streak is six away from Moses Malone's 44-game streak set in 1982-83.

Malone's is the longest double-double streak in the NBA in the past 30 years. So what's the record?