Spurs-Timberwolves Preview

By SANTOSH VENKATARAMAN
Posted Jan 26 2012 2:56PM

As the San Antonio Spurs begin a three-game road trip, they continue to place an emphasis on limiting Tim Duncan's minutes.

The Spurs, though, may need all the frontcourt help they can muster against Kevin Love and the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Love, who posted one of his NBA-high 17 double-doubles in a victory over the Spurs earlier this month, has been red-hot in his last two games heading into Friday night's matchup.

San Antonio (12-7) enters with a 2-6 road record as it tries to match a season high with a third straight victory. Duncan had six points and 11 boards in 21 minutes of a 105-83 home win over Atlanta on Wednesday, with the lopsided contest allowing him some time off.

"We just need to keep playing hard, try to give the big man as much time off as possible," center DeJuan Blair said. "I know he wants to be out there, but we need him for the long run."

In the short run, Love presents a formidable challenge with 70 points and 22 boards in his last two contests. He had 31 and 10 in a 105-90 win at Dallas on Wednesday, hours after signing a four-year extension worth more than $60 million.

"It's a good day, putting aside everything that happened earlier in the day and focusing on the game and getting a big win," Love said.

Love had 24 points and 15 rebounds in a 106-96 home victory Jan. 2 that snapped a 16-game losing streak to the Spurs. He's recorded double-doubles in all seven career starts against San Antonio.

Minnesota (8-10), however, also had Michael Beasley in its frontcourt for the first meeting. Beasley has been out since Jan. 6 with a sprained right foot, and it's not clear when he will be back.

The Wolves could still present the Spurs with another stiff test because Ricky Rubio is now starting. The Spanish guard leads all rookies with 8.7 assists per game, with 35 over his last three contests.

Rubio will likely match up with veteran Tony Parker. The Spurs' top scorer is happy that his string of logging at least 34 minutes came to an end at nine games Wednesday.

"It was a good night to rest, especially at home, play 29 minutes," said Parker, who had 15 points and is averaging 17.6. "It was good for my body. I think on the road, I'm going to have to play a lot more, especially to get those wins."

Big games from Duncan and Parker weren't needed since San Antonio's reserves produced 51 points.

"A number of people came in and played good solid basketball at both the defensive and offensive ends," coach Gregg Popovich said. "So I was really pleased with the bench."

The Spurs will be looking for an improved defensive performance against Minnesota. The Wolves shot a season-high 57.7 percent in the first meeting, the second-highest percentage allowed by San Antonio this season.

The Spurs also face Southwest Division rivals Dallas and Memphis on this trip.

"It's going to be a tough road trip, we've got three big games so hopefully we can get some wins over there," Parker said.

Rubio lifts Timberwolves to 87-79 win over Spurs

By JON KRAWCZYNSKI
Posted Jan 27 2012 11:30PM

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) It was a tense tied game late in the fourth quarter, one these nervous fans were used to seeing their Minnesota Timberwolves let slip away.

Ricky Rubio then splashed a 20-foot jumper through the net for a lead, and the rookie point guard raised his arms, urging them out of their seats and trying to reassure them that times are changing around here.

It's certainly starting to look that way.

Rubio scored nine of his 18 points in the fourth quarter and dished out 10 assists to lift the Timberwolves to an 87-79 victory over the San Antonio Spurs on Friday night.

Kevin Love had 18 points and 16 rebounds and Nikola Pekovic added 14 points and 10 boards for the Wolves, who have beaten the Spurs two straight times in the same season for the first time since 2000.

"We weren't playing to win the game (last year)," Love said of a team that won just 17 times and faltered down the stretch on countless occasions. "This year, we're playing to win the game. We're confident. Real confident."

Tony Parker scored 20 points and Tiago Splitter continued his strong play off the bench for the Spurs, scoring 12 points and grabbing seven rebounds.

But the Spurs scored only one field goal over the final seven minutes against a suddenly stingy Wolves defense. They also had only two offensive rebounds, which was a franchise record for a Timberwolves opponent.

Derrick Williams scored 12 points for the Wolves, who held the third-leading scoring team in the league 20.5 points under its average and outrebounded the Spurs 46-34 to improve to 9-10.

"It's a terrific win for our guys, especially against a veteran team like that that wins those games all the time," coach Rick Adelman said. "Hopefully it's really a step forward for us.

The Wolves led 73-67 with less than nine minutes to play, but Parker kept the Spurs in the game by relentlessly attacking the rim. He scored on a driving layup, hit a pull-up jumper and then converted a three-point play on another explosion to the basket to bring the Spurs within 1 in a two-minute flurry.

Splitter then fed Gary Neal for a 3-pointer and a 79-77 Spurs lead.

Rubio responded with two free throws and a jumper, then fed Love for a layup that gave Minnesota an 83-79 lead with 1:45 to play.

The Spanish rookie raised his arms to cajole the crowd, who stood and cheered "Rubio! Rubio!"

Rubio had been mired in a terrible shooting slump over the last six games, hitting just 23 percent of his shots. He played more than 46 minutes in Minnesota's surprising win at Dallas on Wednesday night, then followed that by hitting seven of 12 shots in 42 minutes against the Spurs.

"Even though I didn't (shoot well) the last six games, I knew that I can do it because I work hard," Rubio said. "My confidence is high. Sometimes your shot's going to miss a lot, but you have to keep shooting because if not, that's going to affect you."

The Spurs are 10-1 at home this season, but they entered the Target Center just 2-6 on the road, including a 106-96 loss here on Jan. 2 in which San Antonio allowed the Wolves to shoot almost 58 percent for the game. That follows the pattern they've set all season, where they have allowed 104.4 points per game on the road versus just 89.5 at home.

"If we're on the road and we hold somebody to 87 points, I think we have a good chance," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "I felt good about that. But like many NBA games, the last four or five minutes, whoever scores wins."

The Spurs were much better defensively in the early going on Friday night, forcing three turnovers on Minnesota's first three possessions and harassing Love into a 2-for-9 start.

But the Wolves turned the ball over just two times in the second half, Tim Duncan was 2 for 12 from the field and the Spurs offense ran out of gas.

The Wolves got Michael Beasley back from an 11-game absence because of a sprained right foot and Martell Webster played for the first time all season after having back surgery in September. Beasley had seven points on 3-for-11 shooting.

Love was playing his first game at home since signing a four-year extension worth more than $60 million. The deal allows Love to opt out after three years, which has the fans a little nervous. But they gave him a loud ovation upon introduction and hope that the Timberwolves continue their upward climb in the standings to keep him in Minnesota for years to come.

"This city is ready to explode," Love said. "You can feel it."

Notes: Matt Bonner scored 13 points for the Spurs. ... Adelman joked that he has banned J.J. Barea from wearing his enormous Dallas Mavericks championship ring. "I don't want him to pull the other hamstring," Adelman said. ... Wolves C Darko Milicic missed the game because of illness.

Notebook: Timberwolves 87, Spurs 79

By Phil Miller, for NBA.com
Posted Saturday January 28, 2012 12:11AM

THE FACTS: Ricky Rubio scored nine of his 20 points in the fourth quarter, and the Timberwolves held San Antonio to one basket in the game's final seven minutes on Friday, helping Minnesota win for the fifth time in seven games with an 87-79 victory over the Spurs. Coupled with the Wolves' 10-point victory on Jan. 2, Minnesota has clinched the season series against the Spurs for the first time since the 1999-2000 season.

Kevin Love notched his 18th double-double of the season with 18 points and 16 rebounds, one of four Timberwolves to reach double digits. Tony Parker led all scorers with 20 points, but San Antonio's offense fizzled down the stretch.

Reserve guard Gary Neal hit a three-pointer with 3:33 to play that put the Spurs in front by two, 79-77. But San Antonio went 0-for-7 from that point and never scored again, as Rubio and Love led Minnesota on a decisive 10-0 run to close out the victory. The last time the Wolves beat San Antonio in consecutive games in the same season was in 2000.

QUOTABLE: "We had to do it before the Mayan calendar ran out."
-- Love on beating the Spurs in back-to-back games in the same season for the first time since 2000.

THE STAT: 50 -- Points in the paint by the Wolves, nearly double San Antonio's 26 and a reflection of how Minnesota forced the Spurs to repeatedly settle for outside shots.

TURNING POINT: The Timberwolves led by one point with just under six minutes to play when Rick Adelman returned his starting lineup to the floor and exhorted them to shut off the Spurs' scoring inside. From that point on, San Antonio made only one basket, a 3-point shot by Gary Neal, going 1-for-9 while the Wolves pulled away with two layups, two dunks and a couple of jumpers, going on a 12-5 run to the finish.

QUOTABLE II: "When I took off, I was going to lay it up, but I just kept going higher. I got so high, I was going to throw it down, but I got the T-Rex arms."
-- Minnesota forward Martell Webster, on missing a dunk during his first game back from back surgery.

HOT: It's a mark of how well Love has been playing lately that an 18-point, 16-rebound effort seems like a letdown. But Love had averaged 35 points and 11.5 rebounds in his last two games. Friday's effort was his NBA-leading 18th double-double of the season.

NOT: Spurs forward Tim Duncan was held to single-digits for the second straight game, scoring only nine points on 2-for-12 shooting, including 0-for-7 over the game's final 34 minutes. Duncan is 5-for-19 with 15 points over his last two games.

INSIDE THE ARENA: Three members of the Minnesota Twins' starting lineup -- third baseman Danny Valencia, and outfielders Ben Revere and Denard Span -- received ovations as they arrived at their seats near midcourt. ... Several Wolves fans carried signs reading "Four More Years," in recognition of Love signing a four-year, $60 million contract on Wednesday.

GOOD MOVE: When Darko Milicic came down with the flu Friday afternoon, coach Adelman decided to insert Nikola Pekovic into the starting lineup for the first time this year, and assigned him to guard Duncan. Pekovic committed five fouls, but pushed Duncan into one of his worst games of the season, a 2-for-12 shooting night, and 0-for-3 in the fourth quarter. Meanwhile, the second-year center scored 14 points and matched Duncan's 10 rebounds for just the second double-double of his career.

BAD MOVE: With neither team able to pull away through three quarters, point guard Tony Parker tried to shoot the Spurs to victory, taking seven of San Antonio's 18 field-goal attempts in the fourth quarter. But he attacked the basket for only two of the shots, making both; the other five were from long range, where he went 1-for-5 in the period as the Spurs managed only 15 fourth-quarter points.

ROOKIE WATCH: Rubio was his usual passing-wizard self, piling up 10 assists, including an amazing no-look wraparound toss to Love for a dunk. It marked the fourth straight game Rubio reached double-digits in assists. But Rubio also broke out of a shooting slump by going 7-for-12 from the field for 18 points; the rookie was 13-for-57 (.223) in his previous five games.

NOTABLE: Michael Beasley played for the first time since Jan. 6, coming off the bench to score seven points on 3-for-11 shooting in 22 minutes. Beasley missed 11 games with a sprained left foot. Adelman said it's too early to tell whether Beasley will reclaim his starting role. ... Guard Luke Ridnour was 2-for-8 for five points after sitting out Wednesday's victory in Dallas with a sore knee. ... Webster scored three points, making his only 3-point try, in his first game back from September back surgery. ... Center Brad Miller dressed for the first time this season, having been cleared to play after May knee surgery, but he did not see action. ... San Antonio rookie Kawhi Leonard's scoring slump continued; he went just 1-for-4 from the floor for two points. After scoring in double figures in six straight games midway through January, the starting guard has been held under 10 in his last six outings, and has made only 10-of-32 (.313) shots in that span.

UP NEXT: For the Spurs, Sunday @ Dallas, Monday @ Memphis, Wednesday vs. Rockets. For the Timberwolves, Sunday vs. Lakers, Monday @ Houston, Wednesday vs. Pacers.

• Spurs: Ford, Ginobili
• Timberwolves: Barea, Lee

• Spurs: --
• Timberwolves: --

• Lead Changes: 13
• Times Tied: 5

• Arena: Target Center, Minneapolis, MN
• Officials: #10 Ron Garretson, #7 Kevin Fehr, #52 Scott Twardoski
• Attendance: 16699
• Duration: 1:58