By Rachel Blount
Greetings from Target Center after the Wolves' 114-112 overtime loss to Houston. After Wednesday's stinker against Philadelphia, the Wolves rebounded with a good effort, though they were doomed by sketchy execution late in the game.
The mantra this week has been to forget about the loss to 0-17 Philly and move forward. That task was made more complicated Friday when Mo Williams sat out because of back spasms, further decimating the roster. But the Wolves played hard throughout the game and got nice performances from a host of players, including Shabazz Muhammad (20 points on 8-of-15 shooting), Zach LaVine (17 points, including 10 in the fourth quarter), Thad Young (19 points), Gorgui Dieng (15 points on 6-of-9 shooting, six rebounds, three steals) and Corey Brewer (15 points, seven rebounds, six assists and three blocked shots).
Coach Flip Saunders appreciated the Wolves' ability to distance themselves from the Philadelphia debacle, but he wasn't letting them off the hook for their mistakes. They rallied from 13 points down with 5:26 to go and led 105-101 after an Andrew Wiggins dunk with 58.2 seconds left. But Donatas Motiejunas' short jumper made it 105-103--and then LaVine, who had been going strong to the basket, missed on a 22-footer. Dieng fouled Motiejunas with 15 seconds left, and his free throws sent it to overtime.
LaVine also missed a three-pointer in overtime with the score tied at 110 and 1:10 to go. Saunders wasn't thrilled with his shot selection or with his defensive lapse in overtime, when Nick Johnson got past him to drive to the hoop for the winning layup with 0.8 seconds left. Nor was he happy about the late fouls in the fourth quarter and overtime.
"Zach had some great moments, and down the stretch, you hope he'll be able to control things,'' Saunders said. "He had a couple ill-advised shots. If you're going to shoot, shoot it right away, but we didn't need threes at the time.
"The disappointing thing, more than anything else, is (Houston) won the game from the free-throw line. At the end of the game when we're up by two, (Dieng) fouls (Motiejunas) when he puts the ball on the floor away from the basket, and they get two free throws. And, of course, when Thad fouls (Jason Terry) at the end (with 25 seconds left in overtime, when Terry hit both foul shots to put Houston up 112-110).''
Saunders said earlier Friday that the young Wolves need to learn to play outside their comfort zones, a step he said is necessary for their development. Friday's mistakes were part of that process. With inexperienced players in new roles, getting more minutes than they're used to, Saunders said they still are learning how to respond in a variety of situations. Sometimes, that means they don't see all the options available; sometimes, they don't understand how to handle a scenario they haven't faced as an NBA player.
