Hornets-Timberwolves Preview

By JEFF MEZYDLO
Posted Mar 10 2012 1:35AM

Regrouping from their latest defeat might not be the only concern facing the Minnesota Timberwolves.

All-Star Kevin Love and talented rookie Ricky Rubio could both be sidelined Saturday night when the Timberwolves try to hand the visiting New Orleans Hornets a fifth consecutive defeat.

Averaging 25.5 points and 13.8 rebounds this season, Love was scratched due to back spasms prior to Friday's 105-102 home loss to the Los Angeles Lakers. The Timberwolves led by as many as 14 in the first quarter and nine at halftime even without Love, but the Lakers outrebounded them 45-34, grabbed 17 offensive boards and outscored the hosts 54-40 in the paint.

The loss snapped a three-game winning streak for Minnesota (21-20), which is ninth in the Western Conference, one-half game behind Houston for the final playoff spot.

Love had averaged 33.3 points in his previous four games.

"With K-Love out it really does hurt, but we really competed out there," rookie Derrick Williams told the Timberwolves' official website after he posted 22 points and 10 rebounds while starting in place of Love.

Center Nikola Pekovic did his best to man the paint without Love, scoring 25 points and pulling down 13 boards in his return from a two-game absence due to a sore foot.

"Pek is just scary big, scary strong," forward Michael Beasley said.

Though Love could return for this contest, Rubio's condition seems more serious after the point guard had to be helped off the floor in the final 16 seconds Friday when his left knee buckled as the result of a collision with Kobe Bryant. Rubio, the 2009 fifth overall pick from Spain who is playing in his first NBA season, had 15 points and 10 assists prior to the injury.

The Timberwolves are already without backup guard J.J. Barea, who could miss a second straight contest with a sprained left ankle.

Love had 34 points with 15 rebounds and Rubio added 12 points, nine assists and six rebounds as the Timberwolves overcame a 34.3-percent shooting effort and 16 turnovers to win 87-80 at New Orleans on Jan. 13.

Minnesota has won three of four in this series following a six-game losing streak.

The Hornets (9-11) have still won eight of their last 10 visits to Minnesota, but they arrive this time as losers of four in a row including a 110-97 defeat Friday at Denver.

"I didn't think as a whole we brought the energy that was necessary to get through those runs they made," New Orleans coach Monty Williams said. "Obviously we have guys out there that don't know what we do, but some of the stuff that was happening it was just simple basketball plays and we weren't making them."

Lance Thomas had 18 points off the bench and Jarrett Jack added 17 for New Orleans, which fell to 5-15 on the road this season.

Jack has combined for 42 points on 58.1 percent shooting in his last two games, but he scored only eight in the January loss to Minnesota.

Hornets beat Rubio-less Wolves, 95-89

By JON KRAWCZYNSKI
Posted Mar 11 2012 1:00AM

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) Ricky Rubio is gone, and he won't be back this season.

It didn't take long for the lowly New Orleans Hornets to show the Minnesota Timberwolves just how much they will miss him.

Chris Kaman scored 20 points and the Hornets snapped a four-game losing streak with a 95-89 victory over the Timberwolves, who found out earlier Saturday that Rubio is out for the year with a knee injury.

Jarrett Jack had 17 points and seven assists for the Hornets, who won for the 10th time all season thanks to 28 assists on 39 buckets.

Kevin Love had 31 points and 16 rebounds after missing the previous game with back spasms, but the Timberwolves couldn't shake the disappointment of losing their flashy sparkplug in time to beat the Hornets.

"It's contagious, not only with the passing and the flair and everything but just being around him," Love said. "He's great for the team. We're going to miss that. That's not something you can replace as far as personality goes. But as far as play goes, we can have other guys play big."

The score was tied at 74 with nine minutes to play when the Hornets went on an 11-0 run to pick up their fifth road win of the season.

"Look, we're in no position to look at any win as anything other than a jewel," coach Monty Williams said. "To come out and win on the road after a back-to-back says a lot about our young guys. We needed it, but we need them all."

Missing their primary ball-handler and offensive sparkplug, the Wolves turned the ball over 17 times, which led to 25 Hornets points.

Greivis Vasquez scored 12 points for New Orleans, which had dropped eight of its last 10 games. He scored five points and assisted on another bucket in the late surge that gave the Hornets an 85-74 lead with 4:55 to play.

Love scored eight points during a 13-4 surge that cut it the deficit to two points with 18 seconds to play. But Jack and Marco Belinelli hit some clutch free throws down the stretch to seal the win.

The Timberwolves just didn't have the sizzle that has made them one of the most entertaining watches in the league this season. That energy and buzz was taken away when Rubio hit the deck late in the game against the Lakers on Friday night and tore the ACL in his left knee.

"It's devastating," Martell Webster said. "But we've got to bounce back from it."

In their first game without their floor leader and tone setter, everyone seemed to be searching, for the right combinations on the floor, the right rotations on defense and the easy shots on offense that Rubio so often set up for them.

They looked much more like the team that went 32-132 over the previous two seasons than the one that entered Friday night's game against the Lakers as the eighth seed in the West.

"It's like we reverted back to a long time ago," coach Rick Adelman said. "We're not going to get it done that way."

Adelman dug deep into his bench, playing Wayne Ellington more than 10 minutes for the just the second time in 15 games and second-round draft pick Malcolm Lee made his NBA debut after missing most of the first two months because of knee surgery. Luke Ridnour moved over to the starting point guard and Webster started at shooting guard. The backcourt combined to go 6 for 18 for the game.

Kaman had his way with Nikola Pekovic early, hitting an array of soft jumpers and layups off of some beautiful interior passing. His jumper from the elbow capped an 8-0 run that gave New Orleans a 61-50 lead midway through the third quarter.

The Wolves battled back to tie it at 74 three minutes into the final quarter, but Vasquez hit a teardrop in the lane, fed Gustavo Ayon for an alley-oop and hit a 3-pointer during the 11-0 run to bury Minnesota.

The Hornets have had injury issues of their own, with key players like Eric Gordon, Emeka Okafor and Carl Landry missing big chunks of time this season.

"If they had Ricky Rubio, who knows what it would've been like," Hornets coach Monty Williams said. "But I could say that same thing about us. If we had Eric Gordon, Jason Smith, Carl Landry and Emeka Okafor, we'd be a different team, too. So you can do the ifs all day long."

Pekovic finished with 21 points and 11 rebounds and Ridnour had 14 points and 10 assists for the Wolves.

NOTES: The Timberwolves announced a crowd of 20,123, the first time in franchise history the Wolves have had back-to-back home crowds topping 20,000 fans. They have sold out eight times this season, the most since 2003-04. ... Ridnour missed his first free throw attempt of the night, snapping a string of 40 straight.

Notebook: Hornets 95, Wolves 89

Posted Saturday March 10, 2012 11:30PM

By Jim Beilby, for NBA.com

THE FACTS: A day after losing Ricky Rubio to a season-ending injury, the Minnesota Timberwolves suffered the insult of being defeated by the New Orleans Hornets, 95-89 on Saturday night. The Hornets came into the game with the second worst record in the league and as losers of their last four games and six of their last seven. Minnesota on the other hand was above .500 this late in the season for the first time since 2004-05 and only a half game out of the eight spot in the West. However, turnovers, miscues and sloppy defense, not to mention missing Rubio's ability to trigger the offense, proved fatal for Minnesota. Chris Kamen led the Hornets with 20 points and Kevin Love had his typical impressive night for the Wolves with 31 points and 16 rebounds.

QUOTABLE: "This was just a disappointing game all the way around. I thought maybe it was the worst game in a long time defensively for us. There was no communication, ball watching and no playing as a team defensively and gave them a lot of easy opportunities. We can't play like that and win."
-- Minnesota coach Rick Adelman

THE STAT: Minnesota turned the ball over 17 times, leading to 25 New Orleans points. And their lackadaisical defense allowed New Orleans to accumulate 28 assists while shooting 45.9 percent from the floor. For Minnesota's part, their recent torrid 3-point shooting did not continue as they made only 5-for-23 from beyond the arc (21.7).

TURNING POINT: After trailing by as many as 11 points in the third quarter, Minnesota fought back into the game and tied it at 74 with a little over nine minutes to play in the game. After that, however, sleep-walking defense on Minnesota's part and opportunistic offense on New Orleans part led to a 11-0 run and a double digit lead with 4:31 to play. Minnesota threatened, twice closing the gap to two, but New Orleans made their free throws down the stretch and notched their tenth win of the season.

QUOTABLE II: "We were lucky to get it tied up [in the fourth quarter]. We came back, but we should have taken care of it long before that. ... We can't afford to relax against anybody and they did a great job. Monty [Williams] had them playing well and they are playing together.
-- Rick Adelman

NOTABLE: After his 16 rebounds in this game, Love needs three more rebounds to pass Sam Mitchell for second place (3,031) on the Wolves career list. Kevin Garnett is in first with 10,542 rebounds ... Minnesota will play their next seven and nine of their next 10 games on the road ... Kevin Love and Nikola Pekovic scored Minnesota's first 16 points of the game and 22 of their 24 first quarter points .. Ricky Rubio will undergo reconstructive surgery on his torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee at a to-be-determined date. The injury occurred with 16.4 seconds left in last night's game against the Los Angeles Lakers after a collision with Kobe Bryant.

UP NEXT: For the Wolves, Monday @ Phoenix, Thursday @ Utah, Friday @ L.A. Lakers. For the Hornets, Monday vs. Charlotte, Wednesday vs. L.A. Lakers, Thursday vs. Washington.

• Hornets: Gordon
• Timberwolves: Barea, Rubio

• Hornets: --
• Timberwolves: --

• Lead Changes: 8
• Times Tied: 13

• Arena: Target Center, Minneapolis, MN
• Officials: #10 Ron Garretson, #6 Tony Brown, #33 Zach Zarba
• Attendance: 20123
• Duration: 2:12