Veterans spark 76ers past Wolves

PHILADELPHIA — After Tuesday's loss to the Lakers, Timberwolves coach Kurt Rambis mentioned something about his "wish list," presumably a laundry list of needs that he wouldn't specify.

Friday's 111-100 loss at Philadelphia, however, illustrated what surely is an item on the list: a veteran's presence.

Like the Wolves, the 76ers are extremely young. They have eight players 24 years old or younger, the Wolves have seven.

Unlike the Wolves, they also have 12-year veteran Elton Brand and seventh-year guard Andre Iguodala.

Each player earns more than $12 million, each was in the league when Kevin Love was a high school sophomore and each was instrumental when it mattered most Friday night.

They're also both notable reasons why the Sixers are 31-30 after a 3-13 start and are firmly in position to make the Eastern Conference playoffs, while the Wolves are 15-48.

"It's everything," 76ers coach Doug Collins said when asked about the importance of his team's two vets, "because you saw at the end of the game tonight, those two guys brought us home. They were the ones who made the big plays. They either hit the shot or they initiated the play and then we had everybody working and got two, three stops in a row.

Such might be a road map for the Timberwolves, who have draft picks and salary-cap space to add a veteran presence to a team that has only 30-year-old Luke Ridnour over the age of 25.

The Wolves got a 49th consecutive double-double from Love, who also reached his 10th 20/20 game of the season with a 21-point, 23-rebound night.

They also got 16 points in 13 minutes from starting center Nikola Pekovic, who scored eight consecutive points to start the second half. But he didn't play again after midway through the third quarter because of foul trouble and because Rambis wanted a quicker lineup in the fourth quarter.

"It didn't ultimately end up helping us out anyway," Rambis said.

It didn't because Brand and Iguodala stepped forth during the Sixers' closing 20-9 run that included the game's final 10 points. That run immediately answered the Wolves' own 24-10 burst, which tied the score at 91 with less than eight minutes left.

Iguodala scored 20 of his 22 points in the second half on his way to his second triple-double (13 assists, 10 rebounds, too) in the past six games.

"Every team wants veterans, you want guys with experience," Rambis said. "I believe that all the players in that [locker] room will grow and develop into terrific players in this league, but to help stabilize a young team you definitely need veteran voices and veteran influence. It's a calming influence when they know who they can turn to and who they can trust."