Pistons-Timberwolves Preview

By JEFF MEZYDLO
Posted Jan 18 2012 12:19AM

Paced by star Kevin Love and a blossoming group of guards, the Minnesota Timberwolves are making strides in a positive direction even though their record might tell a different story.

The Timberwolves look for a second straight victory when they host the struggling Detroit Pistons on Wednesday night.

Minnesota (5-8) might not be ready to seriously contend for a playoff spot in the perennially tough Western Conference, but things appear to be looking up for a franchise that won a combined 32 games over the previous two seasons.

Last season it took the Timberwolves 23 games to record six victories but with the lowly Pistons (3-11) in town, Minnesota has a very good chance to reach that mark much sooner. Love had 33 points with 11 rebounds, Luke Ridnour added 25 with nine assists and rookie Ricky Rubio chipped in nine, eight assists and eight rebounds as Minnesota beat Sacramento 99-86 for its second victory in three games Tuesday.

"We're just helping each other," reserve guard Wayne Ellington told the Timberwolves' official website after he scored 15 on Tuesday.

Averaging a career-high 25.6 points with 14.3 rebounds, Love is the first player since Hakeem Olajuwon in 1992 to start the season with 13 straight double-doubles. He's totaled 97 points while scoring at least 30 in three straight games for the first time in his career.

"My teammates have really set me up; they've set me up well," said Love, who has a Jan. 25 deadline for the Timberwolves to extend his contract. "I'm getting in a good rhythm."

Love totaled 47 points and 38 rebounds while the Timberwolves won both meetings with the Pistons last season.

Ridnour, Rubio and Ellington have made up a solid guard trio to compliment Love and eventually injured forward Michael Beasley (12.9 points per game), who could miss a seventh straight game with a sprained foot.

Averaging a career-high 12.9 points while ranking among the NBA leaders shooting 52.4 percent, Ridnour has moved to shooting guard with Rubio now starting at the point. Ridnour had 20 and 10 assists in a 109-99 home win over Detroit on Dec. 10, 2010.

"He shoots the ball very well," said Rubio, averaging 10.8 points and 8.3 assists. "I never see him missing a jump shot."

The play of Ridnour and Rubio on the defensive end also is a big reason Minnesota is giving up 93.1 points per game compared to the 107.7 opponents averaged in 2010-11.

That defensive improvement might not bode well for Detroit, which averages an NBA-low 85.0 points per contest. The Pistons shot 41.0 percent and committed 20 turnovers in a 97-80 loss at Houston on Tuesday. They also allowed the Rockets to shoot 49.4 percent from the field.

"We have to defend, rebound and keep down our turnovers," said Pistons coach Lawrence Frank, whose team has dropped eight of nine overall. "We did parts of those things, at times (Tuesday)."

Tayshaun Prince scored 20 points as the Pistons fell to 1-6 on the road. Prince has scored 20 in two straight games, but has reached that mark just once in nine career games at Minnesota.

Timberwolves outlast woeful Pistons, 93-85

By JON KRAWCZYNSKI
Posted Jan 19 2012 12:20AM

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) When the shots weren't falling for Minnesota in the past, the Timberwolves simply had no chance.

Now Rick Adelman's crew has suddenly turned into a solid defensive unit, and the Wolves needed to be against the Detroit Pistons.

Kevin Love had 20 points and 17 rebounds and the Timberwolves overcame a dreadful start to the game to slug out a 93-85 victory over the Pistons on Wednesday night.

Anthony Tolliver had 11 points off the bench and shut down Tayshaun Prince in the fourth quarter to help the Timberwolves to their third win in four games. They had 11 steals, scored 23 points off 19 turnovers and held the Pistons to 14 points in the decisive final quarter.

"We're just a lot tougher than definitely we were last year," Tolliver said of his Timberwolves, who were the worst defensive team in the league last season. "We just get tougher by the game."

Prince finished with 29 points, but scored only four in the fourth as the Pistons gave away a 13-point third-quarter lead. The Pistons missed 11 free throws to lose for the ninth time in 10 games.

The Timberwolves trailed by 16 in the second quarter and didn't hold a lead until there was less than nine minutes to play in the game.

"We can't keep playing well for 42 minutes and then the last six minutes give the game away," said Pistons big man Greg Monroe, who had 13 points and 12 boards before fouling out. "As a team, we have to get better and finishing and putting the game away."

Ricky Rubio had nine points, eight assists, seven rebounds and six steals, making up for 1-for-8 shooting with some stellar playmaking down the stretch. He went around his back on a drive to the basket in the third quarter, then split a double team and found Wayne Ellington for a 3-pointer and an 88-81 lead that essentially put the game away.

Ben Gordon finished with 18 points, but the Pistons shot just 47 percent on free throws after entering the game third in the league at 80 percent.

Love bought 1,000 tickets for fans to this one as part of a promotion to try and keep the attendance at Target Center high against a team that had been drawing the fewest fans on the road in the league. They were treated to an ugly one early.

Both teams were stuck in mud to start the game, but Prince hit six straight shots after an 0-for-5 start to put the Pistons up 16 with just under five minutes to play in the first half.

The Timberwolves, meanwhile, couldn't buy a basket. Luke Ridnour and Rubio combined to go 1 for 13 in the first half and the Wolves were shooting 23.5 percent for the first 19 minutes.

"We just couldn't sustain it," Pistons coach Lawrence Frank said. "We just had breakdowns, not just on the ball, but off the ball, too."

Brandon Knight scored on a fast break to close an 11-4 spurt at the start of the third quarter that pushed the lead back to 13 points, and Adelman was visibly frustrated with the inability to find a group that clicked.

But they hung in with defense, which is a rarity in these parts. The Wolves gave up 107.7 points a game last season. Through 14 games this season, they're allowing 92.5.

"It feels good. It's something that's been lacking the last few years," Love said. "In games like this where it's ugly on the offensive end, we were still able to get the job done."

Playing for the first time in four games because of a sprained left ankle, J.J. Barea helped shoot the Wolves back into the game, hitting a 3-pointer to give them their first lead at 74-73.

Ellington threw down a dunk and Tolliver scored on a steal and layup and the Wolves were off and running.

"We have to find a way to win. We haven't yet," Prince said. "There's going to be times when we shoot the ball well and the other team responds. We have to understand late in games what we have to do to win."

Notes: Love had his 14th straight double-double to open the season. ... Pistons F Jason Maxiell drew jeers in the third quarter when he air-balled a free throw. He almost air-balled the second as well, but barely caught the front iron. .... Wolves F Michael Beasley missed his seventh straight game with a sprained right foot. ... Twins great Tony Oliva attended the game and chatted with Rubio before tipoff.

Notebook: Wolves 93, Pistons 85

By Jim Beilby, for NBA.com
Posted Thursday January 19, 2012 12:05AM

THE FACTS: It wasn't pretty, especially in the first half, but the Minnesota Timberwolves will take the result. Despite shooting 28.9 percent from the field in the first half, they came back and defeated the Detroit Pistons 93-85 on Wednesday night.

They started their run in the second half of the second quarter, turning a 16-point Pistons lead into six at the half. It was during key stretches in the fourth quarter that Minnesota took control of the game, playing excellent defense at times and receiving contributions from a number of bench players, especially Anthony Tolliver, Wayne Ellington and Nikola Pekovic.

Kevin Love lead Minnesota with 20 points and 17 rebounds. And for a while it seemed possible that Ricky Rubio would flirt with a quadruple-double. He finished with nine points, eight assists, seven rebounds, and six steals. His only field goal (1-for-8 from the field) was a candidate for the highlight reel; a behind-the-back dribble drive in traffic that bought the Target Center crowd to their feet.

QUOTABLE: "Our guys have really bought into trying to defend. All they talk about in timeouts is getting stops, 'We've got to get stops, we've got to get in a rhythm, our shots will fall.' And that's the type of attitude we need to have. We have to defend and we have to rebound."
-- Minnesota coach Rick Adelman

THE STAT: Minnesota's bench scored 46 points, nearly half of Minnesota's total points. Detroit only shot 10-for-21 from the free throw line (47.6), a shockingly bad number since they came in shooting better than 80 percent as a team.

TURNING POINT: After a J. J. Barea technical foul, Detroit led by two with 6:54 to play in the game. In the next four minutes, Tolliver and Ellington would each score five points to give Minnesota a seven point lead.

QUOTABLE II: "It feels good (to be able to rely on defensive stops). That's something that has been lacking (here) the last few years. So it feels good that in games like this when we are struggling on the offensive end which doesn't happen too often, we were still able to get it done."
-- Kevin Love

NOTABLE: This was the Wolves' first victory when trailing after three quarters. They trailed 71-64 going into the final quarter Wednesday. With this victory, Minnesota has won three straight against Detroit. This is their longest active streak against any team in the league.

UP NEXT: For the Wolves, Friday @ L.A. Clippers, Saturday @ Utah, Monday vs. Houston. For the Pistons, Friday vs. Memphis, Saturday vs. Portland, Monday @ Oklahoma City.

• Pistons: --
• Timberwolves: Miller, Webster

• Pistons: --
• Timberwolves: Barea

• Lead Changes: 5
• Times Tied: 3

• Arena: Target Center, Minneapolis, MN
• Officials: #38 Michael Smith, #42 Eric Lewis, #58 Josh Tiven
• Attendance: 15598
• Duration: 2:18