Get outta town: Wolves lose 94-88 at Toronto

The Wolves, weather permitting, have a busy 24 hours-plus in front of them.

They rushed to get out of Air Canada Centre tonight after a 94-88 loss to Toronto that all unraveled in the last 90 seconds to get home before the snow piles up too high.

They play New Orleans Wednesday night at Target Center, then fly straight out to L.A. after the game in what was intended to be a little warm-weather respite before Friday's game against the Lakers. Advance forecasts call for rain and temps in the 50s in L.A. I know: Boo-hoo.

Before we get to Wednesday and Friday...

Some stuff about tonight:

* The Raptors missed their first 17 three-point attempts and their streak of 882 games with at least one three-pointer -- it dates to February 1999 -- was in danger until Andrea Bargnani made one with 4:29 left.

Toronto made just two of 21 threes (9.5 percent) and shot 32 percent from the field (26 for 81).

"It's awful hard to beat teams when there's a huge, wide margin in the free-throw discrepancy like that," Rambis said. "They did what they were supposed to do. They drove to the basket and drew the contact."

* The Wolves used a 13-1 run with Love, Sessions, Pecherov, Ellington and Gomes on the floor to end the third quarter and begin the fourth and turn an 11-point deficit into a brief one-point lead.

When the Raptors pushed the lead back to six points, the Wolves answered with the next six to tie the game at 84 with 1:49 left. When they had the ball and the chance to take the lead, Jonny Flynn, playing as close to home (Niagara Falls, N.Y.) as he's going to get, threw a behind-the-back pass that failed to connect with Love.

Hedo Turkoglu scooped up the loose, bouncing ball and went three-quarters of the court for a slam and that was that. That started a 6-0 run of the Raptors' own and a 10-4 flourish that ended the game.

"We're playing a lot better," Love said. "We came and played. We just have to close 'em out. It was kind of a theme last year and it's kind of a theme last year."

http://www.startribune.com/sports/wolves/78815752.html