Warriors-Timberwolves Preview

By NICOLINO DIBENEDETTO
Posted Apr 04 2012 1:25AM

The Minnesota Timberwolves and Golden State Warriors are in the process of falling completely out of playoff contention.

That trend will continue for one team Wednesday night when Minnesota looks to end another three-game slide by beating the visiting Warriors for the second time in just over two weeks.

The Timberwolves (25-30) have dropped 4 1/2 games behind Houston for the eighth and final playoff position in the Western Conference with a 4-11 stretch, which started with a home defeat to the Los Angeles Lakers on March 9. Star point guard Ricky Rubio was lost for the season in that game after tearing ligaments in his left knee.

Rubio was averaging 10.6 points and a team-leading 8.2 assists.

The Timberwolves' struggles continued with Monday's 116-108 loss at Sacramento. They were dealt another blow to the back court as Luke Ridnour sustained a sprained right ankle that is expected to keep him out for some time.

Minnesota is also dealing with injuries to guard J.J. Barea (thigh), forward Michael Beasley (toe) and center Darko Milicic (hamstring). Barea, averaging a career-high 9.6 points and 4.3 assists, could be available after sitting out six games.

"Everyone seems to be hurt right now and that's been tough for us," said forward-center Kevin Love, who had 23 points and seven rebounds against the Kings.

Love is certainly doing his part to make up for the absences, averaging 31.4 points and 13.1 boards over the past seven games. He had 36 points and 15 rebounds in a 97-93 road victory over Golden State (20-32) on March 19, ending Minnesota's three-game skid.

Love had 37 points and 23 boards in a 126-123 win over the Warriors in the teams' most recent meeting in Minnesota on Feb. 27, 2011.

Golden State has lost 11 of 13 since dealing Monta Ellis - the team leader with 21.9 points per game - to Milwaukee in a five-player trade March 14.

The Warriors have just about played themselves out of playoff contention with a season-high six-game losing streak, falling eight games behind Houston.

That skid continued with Tuesday's 98-94 loss at Memphis. Golden State, which started three rookies, led by 12 early in the fourth quarter before the Grizzlies took control.

David Lee had 22 points and 13 rebounds in the loss, while the rest of the starting lineup combined for 30 points and 16 boards.

"At some point in the game, they turned up their defensive pressure, and we didn't react to it," said Lee, averaging 25.4 points and 8.2 rebounds his last five games. "We had some turnovers. Give them credit. They hit shots down the stretch."

Warriors rally from 20 down to beat T-Wolves

By JON KRAWCZYNSKI
Posted Apr 05 2012 12:14AM

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) Kevin Love and the Minnesota Timberwolves don't appear to have much left in the tank.

Golden State's Charles Jenkins is just getting warmed up.

David Lee had 31 points and eight rebounds, and Jenkins scored seven of Golden State's final nine points to help the Warriors rally from a 20-point deficit to top the reeling Timberwolves 97-94 on Wednesday night.

Jenkins finished with 19 points and seven assists and Richard Jefferson scored 13 of 5-of-7 shooting for the Warriors, who snapped a six-game losing streak. They trailed by 20 with less than two minutes to play in the first half, but outscored Minnesota 40-19 over the next eight minutes of game time.

The Warriors led by 10 with seven minutes to play, but the Wolves tied it with 90 seconds to go. Then Jenkins, a virtually unknown rookie second-round draft pick from Hofstra, scored on a driving layup with 20 seconds to go to put the Warriors up for good.

"I've always practiced those situations as a kid," Jenkins said. "I think every kid practices the five-four-three-two-one or taking the big shot."

Jenkins has started five of the past six games with star guard Stephen Curry out because of another ankle injury, and he's responded in a major way. He had 27 points and six assists against Portland on March 25, then 18 points and 12 assists against the Nets on March 30.

He went 8 of 13 from the field on Wednesday, getting to the rim at will against the Wolves.

"I continue to be pleased. I'm not surprised because he's a gamer," Warriors coach Mark Jackson said. "He's a guy that works his tail off, competes, defends, not afraid to get into the paint area, made plays and was one of the best players on the floor tonight."

Love had 29 points and 12 rebounds and Wayne Ellington scored 10 of his 17 points in the fourth quarter for the Timberwolves, who have lost four in a row and five of their past six to fall out of playoff contention.

J.J. Barea had 15 points and eight assists in his return from a six-game absence due to a bruised thigh. But he also committed seven of Minnesota's 19 turnovers.

"We deserved every boo we got," Love said.

Barea's 3-pointer from the elbow tied it at 94 with 1:24 to play, but playing with the bravado his coach did during a brilliant NBA career, Jenkins drove to the basket and somehow scooped a shot in for a 96-94 lead.

"Those are game-winning plays and that's what you have to have," Wolves coach Rick Adelman said. "We were doing that before and we're not doing that now."

The Wolves had a chance to tie it with 0.7 seconds left, but Love's 3 at the buzzer was just short.

Ricky Rubio (torn left ACL), Nikola Pekovic (right ankle), Michael Beasley (left big toe) and Barea have all missed big chunks of time in March with injuries and Luke Ridnour (sprained right ankle) was the latest to go down on Monday. But the Wolves were still 4 1/2 games back of Houston for the eighth spot in the West heading into the day.

Love leads the league in minutes played and said "everybody's tired at this point." But Adelman didn't want to hear fatigue mentioned when the Warriors were playing the second game of a back-to-back.

"It's inexcusable," Adelman said. "I just don't understand what was going through our minds, especially the situation we're in. If we're not tougher mentally than that, then we're going to have a hard time. We're going to have a hard time."

The Warriors showed little interest in the early going, settling for jumper after jumper. They scored six points in the first eight minutes of the second quarter and were down 49-29 after Ellington's 3-pointer with 1:53 to play in the half.

Then, seemingly out of nowhere, the Warriors came alive. They scored 10 straight points in less than a minute to cut the halftime deficit to 12, then poured it on with a 38-point third period. Klay Thompson started knocking down those jumpers that were missed early in the game, and Lee's work on the boards helped offset Love's usual dominance.

"We could've very easily folded the tent," Jackson said. "Give our guys credit, they bounced back, they made plays, the third quarter was huge for us."

NOTES: Pekovic started the game 4 for 4, giving him 11 straight made field goals, a streak that was snapped with his first shot of the second half. ... Wolves rookie Derrick Williams had just three points and four rebounds in 13 minutes. ... The Warriors entered the night second in the NBA in 3-point shooting at .387, but hit just 25 percent on Wednesday night.

Notebook: Warriors 97, Wolves 94

Posted Thursday April 5, 2012 12:19AM

By Phil Miller, for NBA.com

THE FACTS: David Lee and Kevin Love dueled each other for three quarters, but rookie guard Charles Jenkins made the big plays at the finish, scoring seven of Golden State's final nine points to help the Warriors snap a six-game losing streak with a 97-94 victory over the Timberwolves in Minneapolis.

Lee scored 31 points and Love 29, but Jenkins, who finish with 19 points and seven assists, drove into the lane with 20 seconds remaining and made a difficult layup in heavy traffic to break a 94-94 tie and hand Minnesota its fourth consecutive loss.

The Warriors fell behind by 20 points late in the second quarter, but went on a 14-minute scoring binge, outscoring the Wolves 48-22 to pull in front. Wayne Ellington scored 17 points off the bench and J.J. Barea had 15 points and eight assists in his first start as a Timberwolf. But Barea missed a 20-foot shot that would have tied the score with eight seconds left, and Love missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer.

QUOTABLE: "When they made their run, I told him, 'Northeastern guys never manage to run away. [Hofstra players] always come back fighting.' "
-- Charles Jenkins, Warriors' rookie guard and Hofstra grad, bringing some Colonial Athletic Association rivalry to his matchup with Northeastern grad J.J. Barea

THE STAT: 22 -- Points in the paint by the Warriors in the third quarter alone, a reflection of the collapse of Minnesota's interior defense. Golden State scored 38 points altogether in the period, the most Minnesota has allowed in one quarter all season, and outscored the Wolves 38-20.

TURNING POINT: Golden State trailed by 20 points with less than two minutes to play in the first half, and considering their place in the standings, could have given up. But after taking a 20-second time out, Golden State hit its next four shots, one of them a 3-pointer and one a three-point play, while forcing two Minnesota turnovers and two missed shots. The result was a 10-2 run that cut the halftime deficit to 12 and, several Warriors said afterward, gave them confidence they could rally. They did, opening the third period with a 20-7 blitz that gave them the lead.

QUOTABLE II: "I can feel it, on my body, in my legs, especially on my shot. They're not under me right now."
-- Wolves forward Kevin Love, on the toll that the condensed schedule is taking

HOT: David Lee and Kevin Love -- for the first three quarters. The power forwards, two of the five NBA players to average more than 19 points and nine rebounds this season, battled head-to-head for much of the game, and finished with extraordinary numbers -- 29 points and 12 rebounds for Love, 31 points and eight boards for Lee. But Love went 0-of-4 from the field in the final period and had just two points, while Lee had only six points, and none in the final seven minutes.

NOT: The Minnesota Timberwolves in April. Wednesday's loss to the Warriors was the Wolves' 20th consecutive loss in April, and if they lose in New Orleans on Saturday, they will surpass three years without an April victory. Their last April win was a 105-97 victory at Golden State on April 8, 2009.

GOOD MOVE: Warriors forward David Lee had piled up 27 points against a passive Minnesota defense when, with 9:40 left to play, Wolves coach Rick Adelman inserted reserve forward Anthony Tolliver into the game for the first time, with instructions to hound the Golden State scorer. Tolliver's physical style shut down the Warriors' main weapon from that point on; Lee made only one basket the rest of the way, and went scoreless in the final seven minutes.

BAD MOVE: Trailing by two points with 20 seconds to play, Wolves guard J.J. Barea dribbled out the clock for 10 seconds, then tried to rush past Charles Jenkins toward the hoop. But in his haste, Barea lost control of the ball, hurriedly scooped it up again, then jumped into the air. With no place to pass, Barea released an off-balance 20-foot shot that hit off the front rim and into the hands of Warrior forward Dominic McGuire, ending Minnesota's most critical possession with a low-percentage shot. By the time Minnesota could stop the clock with a foul, only 1.6 seconds remained.

ROOKIE WATCH: With the Warriors effectively out of the playoff chase and Stephen Curry sidelined by an ankle sprain, Golden State coach Mark Jackson decided two weeks ago to give rookie point guard Charles Jenkins far more playing time. It's paid off perhaps better than even Jackson expected. Jenkins has averaged 15.5 points and 6.0 assists in his six starts since March 25, and made an amazing 55.1 percent of his shots (38-69). He's also 20-23 at the free throw line this season. On Wednesday, he scored seven of Golden State's final nine points to pull out a victory.

NOTABLE: The Wolves will be without starting point guard Luke Ridnour for at least a week, and perhaps for the rest of the season, after he suffered a high ankle sprain Monday in Sacramento. Ridnour is on crutches, and his ankle remains swollen, coach Rick Adelman said. ... J.J. Barea played for the first time after missing six games with a deep thigh bruise, and with Ridnour out, Barea got his first start since signing with Minnesota. Center Nikola Pekovic also returned to the Minnesota lineup after missing eight of the past nine games with bone spurs in his right ankle. And Michael Beasley sat out for his fifth straight game with a sprained big toe on his right foot. ... After spending 10 days with the Dakota Wizards, forward Chris Wright rejoined the Golden State Warriors, but he did not play Thursday. Wright averaged 17.0 points and 7.0 rebounds in six games with the Wizards, helping them go 5-1 and secure a spot in the D-League playoffs. ... Lee eclipsed 20 points for the sixth consecutive game. ... Love, the NBA's reigning 3-point shootout champion, suffered a career-worst 0-of-7 night from 3-point range, snapping a streak of 18 consecutive games with a 3-pointer. Pekovic made his first four field-goal tries before missing, giving him 11 consecutive successful shots, two shy of the franchise record.

UP NEXT: For the Warriors, Friday @ Utah, Saturday vs. Denver, Monday @ Denver. For the Timberwolves, Saturday @ New Orleans, Monday vs. Phoenix, Wednesday @ Denver.

• Warriors: Bogut, Curry
• Timberwolves: Ridnour, Rubio

• Warriors: --
• Timberwolves: Barea

• Lead Changes: 6
• Times Tied: 5

• Arena: Target Center, Minneapolis, MN
• Officials: #41 Ken Mauer, #16 David Guthrie, #28 Tommy Nunez Jr.
• Attendance: 17161
• Duration: 2:13