Timberwolves-Raptors Preview

By MATT BECKER
Posted Jan 08 2012 9:59PM

The Minnesota Timberwolves haven't won a game in Toronto in nearly eight years, but there's reason to believe that slide could be coming to an end.

Ricky Rubio looks to build on another encouraging performance for the Timberwolves on Monday night against a Raptors team coming off an embarrassing loss.

After spending the last two years playing in Spain, Rubio is quickly emerging as a solid NBA point guard. In Sunday's 93-72 win over Washington, the rookie finished with 13 points, a career-high 14 assists - one fewer than the entire Wizards team - and six rebounds.

He came off the bench with 1:30 remaining in the first quarter with the Timberwolves (3-5) down by four points and quickly hit a 22-foot jump shot to start a 17-2 run that gave Minnesota - plus-29 when Rubio was in the game - the lead for good.

Rubio has recorded two double-doubles in the last three games and is establishing a strong relationship with Kevin Love, assisting on four of his seven field goals Sunday.

"We're happy to have him now," said Love, who had 20 points and 16 rebounds - his eighth straight game with at least 20 and 12. "Today's just an example of how good he is - and how good he can be. Who's to say? He's still working on his jump shot. He's still working on his game."

Derrick Williams, the No. 2 overall pick in last year's draft, is also developing into a solid player. He finished with a season-best 14 points and seven rebounds on Sunday.

The Timberwolves were opening a back-to-back-to-back stretch - all without forward Michael Beasley, who sprained his right foot during Friday's loss to Cleveland - while the Raptors play their first of three games in as many days beginning Monday.

Toronto (3-5) has dominated the recent series with Minnesota, winning 13 of 14 since 2004-05, but the Wolves did beat the Raptors 103-87 at home on Jan. 29. The addition of Rubio and Williams could be enough to help Minnesota snap a seven-game losing streak in Toronto in which they've lost by an average of 10.9 points.

The Raptors' sluggish play of late could also give the Timberwolves with an edge.

Toronto suffered a 97-62 loss to Philadelphia on Saturday, its lowest-scoring game since an 82-62 loss to Milwaukee on Nov. 23, 2003. Andrea Bargnani had 21 points and 11 rebounds and Amir Johnson had 12 points and 14 boards, but the rest of the team combined for 29 points on 13 of 55 shooting (23.6 percent).

"Offensively, we were really bad," Bargnani said. "Our shots didn't fall, but that happens sometimes in the NBA."

It seems to be happening more often than not for the Raptors, who are one of the league's lowest-scoring teams at 87.5 points.

Getting the offense in gear against the Timberwolves might not be so easy, as Minnesota is allowing an average of 87.6 points on 40.6 percent shooting in five games this month.

Bargnani averaged 22.5 points against the Wolves last season despite shooting a mere 30.0 percent.

Bargnani scores 31 points as Raptors beat T-Wolves

Posted Jan 09 2012 11:25PM

TORONTO (AP) As the missed shots piled up, Timberwolves center Kevin Love started wondering what was going wrong. Could the baskets be working against him somehow?

"It felt like there was a cap on the rim at some point," Love said. "I remember (missing) a reverse layup and looking at it like `You've got to be kidding me."'

Andrea Bargnani matched his season-high with 31 points, Amir Johnson had a season-high 19 points and 11 rebounds for his second straight double-double and the Toronto Raptors beat Minnesota 97-87 on Monday night.

Jose Barea scored a season-high 16 points and Love had 13 points and 14 rebounds for Minnesota, which hasn't won in Toronto since Jan. 21, 2004. Toronto has won 14 of its last 15 games against the Timberwolves.

Subpar shooting was the big reason Minnesota was unable to reverse its losing trend north of the border. The Timberwolves shot a season-low 34 percent for the game, making just six of 20 field goal attempts in the fourth.

Love struggles more than anyone, hitting only three of his 16 shots and missing half of his 10 free throw attempts.

"Five for 10, that's not like me," Love said. "That's kind of how the game went for me today."

Minnesota was playing the second in a stretch of three straight games, while the Raptors were playing the first game in their only back-to-back-to-back this season.

"(Love) just didn't look like he had the energy he needed tonight," Minnesota coach Rick Adelman said. "He's going to have games like that. He missed five free throws and that's really uncharacteristic."

In the first meeting between Spanish point guards Jose Calderon and Ricky Rubio, the Toronto veteran finished with a narrow edge over the Minnesota rookie. Calderon had 14 points, six assists and three rebounds in 40 minutes, while Rubio had 10 points, six assists and four rebounds in 29 minutes.

"He's a great player," Calderon said of Rubio. "Minnesota has an unbelievable player for the future. He's going to be even better, this is just the beginning."

Rubio, who missed seven of nine shots, credited Toronto for playing tough defense.

"They stayed in the paint and we couldn't score threes or jump shots," Rubio said. "We didn't have luck today."

Leandro Barbosa came off the bench to score 13 points for the Raptors, who won for the first time in three games.

Luke Ridnour and Derrick Williams each had 13 points for Minnesota.

Down 47-39 with 5:20 left in the second, the Raptors went on a 16-2 run to finish the quarter, taking a 55-49 lead into the half.

Barea scored seven points as Minnesota ended the third quarter with an 8-0 spurt, cutting it to 73-69. Williams opened the fourth with a dunk and Barea made a driving layup as the Wolves tied it at 73-73 with 10:53 to play.

Bargnani's reverse layup with 6:36 left knotted it again at 80-80, and no one scored for the next 3:20 until Johnson tipped in Bargnani's missed jumper, putting the Raptors ahead 82-80 with 3:16 remaining. Calderon and Bargnani followed with jumpers, making it 86-80 with less than two minutes to go.

"We got stuck on 80 for a while," Barea said. "I think that killed us. They made us take tough shots and the ball wasn't going in."

NOTES: Timberwolves F Michael Beasley (sprained right foot) did not accompany the team on this two-game road trip and is not expected to play in Tuesday's game against Chicago. ... Raptors C Aaron Gray underwent a procedure Monday to control repeated occurrences of a rapid heart rate. He's expected to return in two weeks. ... Toronto G Jerryd Bayless (left ankle) missed his sixth straight game. ... Barea returned after missing the past five of the past six games with a strained left hamstring. ... Toronto's Linas Kleiza (right knee surgery) has traveled to Colorado to visit the doctors who operated on him last February. Kleiza could return to the lineup Friday against Indiana. ... The Raptors visit Washington Tuesday and host Sacramento Wednesday.

Notebook: Raptors 97, Wolves 87

By Duane Watson, for NBA.com
Posted Monday January 9, 2012 11:03PM

THE FACTS: The Toronto Raptors (4-5) defeated the Minnesota Timberwolves (3-7) 97-87, extending their home game winning streak over the Wolves to eight games. Despite giving up a 12 point lead in the third quarter, the Raptors outscored the Timberwolves 24-18 in the fourth, finishing the game on a 17-7 run. Amir Johnson carried the Raptors on his back with gritty play, tough defense and 17 points and 11 rebounds.

Andrea Bargnani led the Raptors with 30 points and 9 rebounds, while Jose Calderon contributed 14 points and 6 assists. The Timberwolves were led by Jose Barea's came off the bench to lead all Timberwolves scorers with 16 points, Kevin Love added 13 points and 14 rebounds, while Derrick Williams and Luke Ridnour each had 13 points.

QUOTABLE: "We played hard, I think we really played grimy. We really didn't give nobody anything or let them get into they groove, so we really played hard and we got some more and we got to carry it on to the next two games."
-- Amir Johnson on his team's defensive play in the first of a back-to-back-to-back

THE STAT: The Raptors are second in the league in opponent field goal shooting with (.402). They continued their stifling play on the defensive end of the floor, limiting the Timberwolves to (.342) shooting, holding all but two Timberwolves players to less than 50 percent from the field, (Barea, Ridnour).

TURNING POINT: Amir Johnson turned an offensive rebound into a put back dunk with 3:14 left in the fourth quarter, breaking a three minute drought between both teams, giving the Raptors an 82-80 lead. That dunk would be the beginning of an 11-2 run that sealed the game for the Raptors.

HOT: Johnson, who was fighting off the flu earlier in the day and missed shoot around, notched his second double-double in as many games, giving him three on the season. Shooting 7-for-9 from the field with 17 points and 11 rebounds, he played on both ends of the floor with a lock down job holding on Kevin Love defensively.

NOT: Despite finishing with 13 points and 14 rebounds, Kevin Love had a tough game. Shooting 3-for-16 from the field and 5 for 10 from the free throw line. Even though he logged 36 minutes, Love's last basket of the game came in the waning minutes of the first quarter.

NOTABLE: Much was made about the matchup of Spanish point guards and national squad teammates, Jose Calderon and Ricky Rubio facing off. Their stat sheets were relatively even, points 16/13, assists 6/6, rebounds 4/3 and turnovers 2/1 for Rubio and Calderon respectively. Field goal shooting was in favor of Calderon who shot 6- for-11, where Rubio went 2-for-9, while the Raptors got the win.

UP NEXT: The next three games for the Raptors -- Tuesday @ Washington, Wednesday vs. Sacramento, Friday vs. Pacers. The Timberwolves next opponents are Tuesday vs. Chicago, Friday vs. New Orleans, and Saturday vs. Atlanta.

• Timberwolves: Miller, Webster
• Raptors: Alabi, Gray, Kleiza

• Timberwolves: --
• Raptors: Casey

• Lead Changes: 6
• Times Tied: 8

• Arena: Air Canada Centre, Toronto, ON
• Officials: #23 Jason Phillips, #56 Mark Ayotte, #74 Curtis Blair
• Attendance: 14097
• Duration: 2:20