4:47The Timberwolves welcomed just-signed Lance Stephenson to his new team with Wednesday's 112-109 victory over Toronto, a comeback at Target Center in which Stephenson played the entire fourth quarter only hours after he got turned around in the arena's corridors.
"I got lost earlier," he said afterward, "but I finally found the locker room."
That was Wednesday morning after he officially signed a 10-day contract. By nightfall, he and fellow reserves Tyus Jones and Shabazz Muhammad all found their way home down the stretch, when coach Tom Thibodeau played them to the finish.
Stephenson provided a veteran's know-how and what Thibodeau called an "edge," particularly when it came to defending Raptors All-Star point guard Kyle Lowry with the game in doubt during the final minute.
Jones and Muhammad spread the floor and created room for young stars Andrew Wiggins and Karl-Anthony Towns to work with the threat of their perimeter shooting.
Jones' three-pointer with 19.5 seconds left broke a 107-107 tie and was the go-ahead score from which the Raptors never recovered.
It came on a night when he missed his first three three-point shots but made the one that counted most.
"That's what you dream of, the go-ahead shot in an NBA game late like that in the fourth," Jones said. "You spend hours and hours in the gym and shoot thousands and thousands of those. You can't let it affect you. My teammates and coaches kept telling me to keep shooting it with confidence. You just have to trust them, like Wigs trusted me by making the pass."
