Timberwolves-Grizzlies Preview

By MATT BEARDMORE
Posted Feb 08 2012 12:52AM

The Minnesota Timberwolves are undoubtedly a stronger team with Kevin Love in the lineup, but for one game, they came out on top without their All-Star forward.

The Timberwolves get another chance to prove they're far from a one-man team.

With Love finishing his two-game suspension, the visiting Timberwolves will try to win four in a row for the first time in two seasons on Wednesday night when the struggling Memphis Grizzlies go for a sixth consecutive victory in this series.

Love, the team leader with 25.0 points per game and 13.7 rebounds, missed Tuesday's 86-84 victory over Sacramento after being suspended two games for stepping on Houston's Luis Scola during the third quarter of Saturday's 100-91 win.

Without Love, the Timberwolves (13-12) received big contributions up front. Center Nikola Pekovic had 23 points, Michael Beasley added 17 and rookie Derrick Williams - making his third start - scored half of his 14 in the final four minutes. That trio combined for 32 of the team's 49 rebounds.

"I think (playing without Love) builds character and it builds a winning attitude," Beasley said. "Especially go up over .500 (for the first time this season), that's real important for us."

Minnesota last won four in a row from Jan. 29-Feb. 6, 2010. That run was capped off by a 109-102 victory over the Grizzlies - the Timberwolves' last win in this series.

Minnesota also will go for its first 4-0 run away from home since Jan. 3-19, 2009.

Memphis (12-13) will try to extend its winning streak in this series following a 90-86 victory in Minneapolis on Jan. 4.

Tony Allen scored a team-high 20 points for the Grizzlies in that contest, but he could miss a third consecutive game with a sore hip and knee.

That could be a big loss as coach Lionel Hollins is trying to better manage his players' minutes during this condensed 66-game schedule. Rudy Gay (45), center Marc Gasol (42) and Mike Conley (41) all logged heavy minutes in Monday's 89-84 home loss to San Antonio.

Memphis scored 11 fourth-quarter points - a season low for any period - after a 25-6 run to end the third.

"It was tough," Gay said after the team lost its third straight to open a season-high five-game homestand. "A couple of guys were fatigued from playing a lot of heavy minutes."

Conley will need all the energy he can muster with rookie point guard Ricky Rubio averaging 11.8 points, 9.9 assists and 3.0 steals since coach Rick Adelman inserted him into the starting five 15 games ago.

Rubio's five steals on Tuesday vaulted him ahead of Conley for first in the NBA with 2.44 per game. The Spanish point guard had 12 points, 10 assists and two steals on Jan. 4.

Conley scored 12 points with eight assists and three steals.

Love will miss a second consecutive game in Memphis. He was sidelined with a strained left groin in a 106-89 loss at FedExForum on April 2.

The Grizzlies have won four straight at home over Minnesota and eight of nine overall in this series.

Grizzlies end 3-game skid, beat Timberwolves 85-80

Posted Feb 09 2012 12:19AM

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) Quincy Pondexter had nothing to show in his first opportunity to start for the injured Tony Allen.

His second chance resulted in the best scoring night of his career.

Pondexter recorded a career-best 17 points and provided an early burst as the Memphis Grizzlies snapped a three-game losing streak with an 85-80 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Wednesday night.

"It's seizing the opportunity," said Pondexter, in his second season out of Washington. "I've been blessed enough to be given this position with Tony being out."

Pondexter went scoreless when Lionel Hollins gave him his first start against San Antonio on Monday night - a performance he described as "a nothing game for me." He was happy to rebound two nights later.

"Coach believed in me enough to do it," Pondexter said. "He could have given it to a lot of other players. For some reason, he believed in me, and I can't let him down."

Rudy Gay had 19 points and nine rebounds to lead Memphis. Marc Gasol and Dante Cunningham scored 12 apiece, and O. J. Mayo finished with 10 for Memphis despite connecting on only three of 11 shots as the Grizzlies shot just 37 percent overall.

J.J. Barea led the Timberwolves with 17 points and six assists, while Derrick Williams and Michael Beasley had 13 points each. Williams also grabbed a career-high nine rebounds. Nikola Pekovic had 10 points and nine rebounds.

Minnesota's starting backcourt of Ricky Rubio and Luke Ridnour were a combined 2 of 14 from the field as the Timberwolves shot 39 percent. They played their second game without leading scorer Kevin Love, who completed his league-ordered two-game suspension for stepping on Houston's Luis Scola.

"We shot very poorly," Minnesota coach Rick Adelman said. "I didn't think we played the way we needed to play offensively against them at all."

A lack of energy was a common theme out of the Timberwolves' locker room. Minnesota was on the second night of a back-to-back after an 86-84 home win over Sacramento on Tuesday.

"We didn't come out with energy," Barea said. "That put us in a deep hole. With teams like this, you can't fall behind."

Memphis extended its lead in the final minutes of the first half to carry a 44-34 advantage into the break. Gay and Pondexter had 11 points apiece to lead Memphis.

The Timberwolves had no players in double figures - Williams led Minnesota with nine - and were stymied by shooting 29 percent. The shooting percentage kept Memphis from paying the price for 10 turnovers.

Ridnour missed all seven of his shots in the half, while Rubio was 1 for 5 with no assists. Rubio, who entered averaging 9.1 assists, ended the night with only one.

"I couldn't find a rhythm," he said. "I did a lot of things badly."

Meanwhile, Memphis was getting to the basket as 30 of its 44 first-half points came in the paint despite Gasol playing only nine minutes after collecting three fouls.

"We got a lot of defensive stops that allowed us to get out in transition a little bit," said Memphis point guard Mike Conley, who recorded seven assists, but was 1 of 8 from the field.

"Our guys did a good job of moving the ball," he added. "When Marc goes out, and we don't have an inside presence, moving the ball around the perimeter and attacking the basket really helps us."

Memphis was able to build its halftime lead by closing the second quarter on an 8-2 spurt as the Timberwolves didn't record a field goal over the final 4:40 of the half.

Memphis extended the lead by scoring the first six points of the second half, but Pekovic started scoring inside and the Grizzlies began misfiring. Back-to-back baskets by Wesley Johnson pulled Minnesota within 56-50 with 4 minutes left in the third.

The Grizzlies would later answer with eight unanswered points, and carry a 66-54 lead into the fourth. They got their largest lead of the game by scoring the first two baskets of the fourth for a 71-54 lead.

"We just made it stand up," Hollins said. "We had a 10-point lead (in the fourth quarter) and at the end, we gave up some 3s and some fouls."

Notes: Love, as he did in Tuesday night's win over Sacramento, spent his time away from the arena on Twitter providing occasional color commentary. ... Even with the loss, the Wolves remained only one of four Western Conference teams with a winning road record. ... Minnesota is 6-5 on road. ... Allen missed his third straight game for Memphis with a sore left hip and knee. ... Minnesota's 34 first-half points were a season low for a half. ... Grizzlies F Marreese Speights finished the night with 15 rebounds, matching his career high. ... It was Memphis' sixth straight win in the series.

Notebook: Grizzlies 85, Wolves 80

Posted Wednesday February 8, 2012 11:31PM

By Marlon W. Morgan for NBA.com

THE FACTS: Facing a Minnesota team that was already playing without its star Kevin Love, who was serving the second game of a two-game suspension, the Memphis Grizzlies managed to frustrate the Timberwolves rookie playmaker Ricky Rubio as they snapped a three-game losing streak with an 85-80 victory Wednesday night at FedExForum. The Grizzlies also halted Minnesota's three-game winning streak.

QUOTABLE: "We'll see what happens. It would be great to represent my city and my teammates over there. I don't really believe in personal recognition. It would be beautiful to represent everybody, the city, the Grizzlies, and my teammates."
-- Grizzlies center Marc Gasol on his chances of being named as a Western Conference reserve for the All-Star Game.

THE STAT: It was the second quarter that did the Timberwolves in. After shooting a respectable 45 percent in the opening quarter, Minnesota went ice cold in the next period, missing on 18 of their 21 shots (14.3 percent), which allowed the Grizzlies to take a 44-34 halftime lead.

TURNING POINT: After jumping out to a 16-point third-quarter lead, the Grizzlies allowed Minnesota to go on a 10-0 run to pull to within 56-50 with 4:02 left in the quarter. But the Grizzlies responded with an 8-0 run of their own to regain control and eventually take a 66-54 lead into the final period

HOT: The Grizzlies got a career-best performance from guard Quincy Pondexter, who started his second straight game in place of the injured Tony Allen. Pondexter, who had been struggling offensively as of late, had career-highs of 17 points and six rebounds.

NOT: It was an off-night for Rubio. One of the top playmakers in the NBA with an average of 9.1 assists, Rubio was held to just one assist, that coming on a third quarter alley-oop to Wes Johnson. Rubio also had just four points on 1-for-8 shooting and committed four turnovers. Because of his, and the team's struggles, for the first time this season Rubio did not play in the fourth quarter.

GOOD MOVE: Grizzlies coach Lionel Hollins admitted after Monday's loss to San Antonio that he had been playing his starters too many extended minutes. Rudy Gay, Gasol and Mike Conley all topped the 40-minute mark in that loss. Against Minnesota, Hollins was more conscious of getting his star players some rest, although Gasol helped with three first quarter fouls. None of the three played more than 38 minutes, and they were able to sit out for longer stretches.

QUOTABLE: "I continued to stay aggressive. After the last few games, I was real disappointed. My teammates did a great job of finding me. I've just got to be active on the floor, getting rebounds and doing a lot of the little things that help you be productive in these types of games. Lately, I was playing terrible. I had to find some type of way to get myself going."
-- Grizzlies guard Quincy Pondexter.

NOTABLE: Minnesota rookie forward Derrick Williams made his second start in place of Love. He finished with 13 points and a career-high nine rebounds. ... With Rubio struggling, backup Jose Barea tried to lead his team to a win. He scored a team-high 17 points and had six assists, but it wasn't enough. Barea also made 3 of his 6 3-point attempts. The rest of the team was 1-for-16. ... Gay led the Grizzlies with 19 points, but made just 9 of his 21 shots. ... Marreese Speights hauled in a game-high 15 rebounds as the Grizzlies held a 59-47 edge on the boards, including a 21-10 advantage on the offensive glass. Both were season-highs for the Grizzlies. ... Forward Dante Cunningham came off the bench to score a season-high 12 points with seven rebounds. ... The Grizzlies managed to put up 94 shots. The problem is they only made 37 percent of those shots.

UP NEXT: For the Timberwolves, Friday vs. Dallas, Saturday vs. New York, Monday at Orlando. For the Grizzlies, Friday vs. Indiana, Sunday vs. Utah, Tuesday vs. Houston.

• Timberwolves: Lee, Milicic
• Grizzlies: Arthur, Randolph

• Timberwolves: --
• Grizzlies: --

• Lead Changes: 2
• Times Tied: 2

• Arena: FedExForum, Memphis, TN
• Officials: #19 James Capers, #56 Mark Ayotte, #52 Scott Twardoski
• Attendance: 13287
• Duration: 2:00