Cavaliers-Timberwolves Preview

By NOEY KUPCHAN
Posted Dec 06 2012 1:56PM

Mired in a brutal losing stretch, the Cleveland Cavaliers have proven especially bad over their last two games without their top two scorers.

While the Minnesota Timberwolves have had to deal with their fair share of injuries, it was an inability to convert from the free throw line that plagued them their last time out.

Cleveland, loser of three straight and 13 of 15, could be without Dion Waiters again Friday night when it visits Minnesota.

With Kyrie Irving (22.9 points per game) still expected to miss a couple more weeks due to a fractured finger that's sidelined him since mid-November, the Cavaliers (4-15) have found themselves in an even bigger hole with Waiters out. The No. 4 overall pick in this year's draft, averaging 15.2 points, has been sidelined since spraining his left ankle during Saturday's 118-117 double-overtime loss to Portland.

After shooting a season-worst 33.7 percent in Monday's 89-79 loss at Detroit, the Cavaliers shot 36.5 percent in a 95-85 defeat to Chicago on Wednesday. Cleveland had a season-low 11 points in the first quarter and entered the second down by 16.

"I'm proud of our guys. They're battling. They're playing as hard as they can right now," coach Byron Scott said. "A lot of things are not going our way, but in that first quarter, we kind of let it get out of hand. We couldn't make a shot and we couldn't get stops, but after that we played pretty solid.

"That's the problem with us. We have to play a near perfect game on both ends of the floor. ... We're just going to keep working. That's the only thing we can do."

Anderson Varejao, averaging 15.0 points and league-best 15.4 rebounds, posted 11 and 15 on Wednesday but shot 4 of 16. Donald Sloan had a season-high 14 points while fellow reserve Tyler Zeller scored 10 to go along with seven boards.

"It's the NBA," Scott added. "We're not the only team going through having some guys who are hurt that you wish were out there. We'll play the guys we have available. We're not going to cry about the guys who aren't here."

Cleveland now tries to bounce back against Minnesota (8-9), which had won three of four before falling 104-94 at Boston on Wednesday. Kevin Love had 19 points and 13 rebounds but made just 6 of 12 free throws for the Timberwolves, who went a season-worst 14 of 30 from the foul line.

"We're gonna make free throws," coach Rick Adelman said. "Kevin Love's not gonna miss these free throws - he's an 80-85 percent free-throw shooter. Sometimes you go throw it, we just have to stay with it and understand that's part of the game you gotta execute."

Shooting 71.1 percent from the free throw line to rank 27th in the league, Minnesota has gone 4-0 when it makes at least 80.0 percent of its attempts and 4-9 when it doesn't.

The Timberwolves, who played their first nine games without Love (broken right hand), are still without Ricky Rubio (torn ACL), Brandon Roy (knee) and Chase Budinger (torn left meniscus). Andrei Kirilenko, meanwhile, could miss his fifth straight game due to back spasms.

Minnesota had posted back-to-back wins in this series before coming up short 98-87 on Jan. 6 despite Love's 29 points and 14 rebounds. He's averaging 24.3 and 17.0 in his last three matchups against Cleveland, going 10 for 15 from 3-point range.

Love's 36 and 13 lift Wolves over Cavs, 91-73

By JON KRAWCZYNSKI
Posted Dec 08 2012 12:46AM

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) Kevin Love's shooting stroke returned, and Andrei Kirilenko also was back for the Minnesota Timberwolves.

The timing couldn't have been worse for the reeling Cleveland Cavaliers.

Love had 36 points and 13 rebounds and Kirilenko delivered another solid all-around performance in the Timberwolves' 91-73 victory over the Cavaliers on Friday night.

Love missed most of the first month of the season with a broken right hand, and he's been struggling to regain his shooting touch since returning nine games ago. The release looked much more fluid against the Cavs, and the trajectory was better as well. He made 10 of 19 shots and 14 of 18 free throws and is cautiously optimistic that it's all coming back to him now.

"Hopefully it's not fool's gold," Love said. "It's a step in the right direction. I've been putting in work, but it's just one game."

Kirilenko had eight points, seven rebounds, six assists, four steals and three blocks after missing four games with back spasms and Luke Ridnour added 12 points, seven assists and five rebounds for the Timberwolves, who improved to 9-9 in their best start since the 2006-07 season.

Alonzo Gee scored 16 points and Anderson Varejao grabbed 14 rebounds for the Cavaliers, who have lost four in a row and eight of their last nine while star guard Kyrie Irving has been out with a broken left index finger.

The Cavs turned the ball over 20 times, which led to 32 Minnesota points, shot 34.5 percent and attempted just nine free throws to Minnesota's 35.

"I'm trying to figure out a way to say this without getting fined," coach Byron Scott said of the officiating. "It was that bad. It really was. It was that bad. I mean I understand we're playing in Minnesota, but 35-9, we went to the basket just as much as they did. I think we had 38 attempts in the paint to their 34, we get nine free throws, I think that speaks for itself."

It wasn't a pretty game offensively for either team, aside from Love's shooting. He entered the night hitting just 19.6 percent of his 3s and 36 percent overall while still trying to get the feeling in his hand back to normal.

"I know I haven't been the 25 (points) and 10 (rebounds) guy that I usually am. ... I haven't been quite putting up the numbers and helping the team as much as I can," Love said at the shootaround on Friday morning.

While Love was terrific in the matchup of two of the game's best rebounders, Varejao managed just four points on 2-for-10 shooting and lost a streak of 10 straight games with at least 15 boards. C.J. Miles scored 13 points for Cleveland.

Both teams were missing their playmaking point guards, and it showed in the disjointed mess that was the offense on both sides of the court. Irving missed his 10th straight game and Dion Waiters was out again with a sprained left ankle, robbing the Cavaliers of one of the promising young backcourts in the league.

Once again, the Cavs struggled to create space for easy jumpers, turned the ball over 18 times and really were relegated to hoping for a dunk from Gee on offense. Gee threw down a soaring jam and then knifed through the lane for another two-hander that cut Minnesota's lead to nine points late in the third quarter. He made seven of his 12 shots, but his teammates shot just 30 percent.

Miles' dunk pulled the Cavs to within seven in the fourth, but Minnesota closed the game on a 19-8 surge.

"He's definitely a luxury when you've got a guy that does what he does, who can break his guy down at any point in time," Miles said of Irving. "That's definitely a luxury, but we did a good job, guys are stepping up. We've been in every game to a certain extent, I think we've just got to figure out how to close games, how to win games."

NOTES: Varejao did limit Wolves C Nikola Pekovic to four points and one rebound on 0-for-3 shooting. ... Cavaliers rookie Kevin Jones made his NBA debut. He had two points and four rebounds in eight minutes. ... Former No. 2 overall pick Derrick Williams did not play again for the Wolves, with coach Rick Adelman preferring to give the bulk of the minutes to Love, Dante Cunningham and Greg Stiemsma up front.

Notebook: Timberwolves 91, Cavaliers 73

Phil Miller, for NBA.com
Posted Sat Dec 08, 2012 12:03 AM - Updated Sat Dec 08, 2012 12:03 AM

THE FACTS: Kevin Love and Andrei Kirilenko, playing together for just the fifth time all season, dominated an injury-depleted Cleveland Cavaliers roster Friday night, and the Minnesota Timberwolves climbed back to .500 with an ugly 91-73 victory in Target Center. Love, slowly regaining his form after missing the season's first nine games with a broken hand, emerged from a scoring slump with scored 36 points with 13 rebounds, while Kirilenko returned after a four-game absence with back spasms to spearhead a smothering Wolves defense.

The combination resulted in a 22-10 Minnesota run over the game's final nine minutes, sending Cleveland, which was playing without starting backcourt Kyrie Irving and Dion Waiters, to its fourth straight loss and eighth in its last nine games.

With both starting point guards out with injuries -- the Cavs' Irving, who missed his 10th game with a broken left index finger, and the Wolves' Ricky Rubio, who has yet to play this year as he recovers from knee surgery -- the game was full of poor shot selection and bad ball-handling. The teams combined for 41 turnovers and 38.2 percent shooting.

Alonzo Gee led Cleveland, which took only nine free throws to Minnesota's 35, with 16 points.

QUOTABLE: "I am trying to figure out a way to say this without getting fined -- it was that bad. I understand we are playing in Minnesota, but 35-9→ We went to the basket just as much as they did."
-- Cleveland coach Byron Scott, on the Wolves' 35-9 advantage in free-throw attempts.

THE STAT: 34.5 -- Cleveland's field-goal percentage (on 30-for-87 shooting), lowest by any Minnesota opponent this year. In three games without rookie guard Waiters, the Cavs have made only 33.7, 36.5 and 34.5 percent, respectively, of their shots.

TURNING POINT: An ugly offensive game may have been decided when Minnesota forward Love announced at the team's morning shootaround that he was tired of his own inconsistent play since returning from a broken right hand, and intended to "play like myself again." Love then revved up his game to the All-Star level of a year ago, being far more active around the basket and earning 18 free throws -- twice as many as the Cavaliers' team total. Love, averaging only 12.5 points in December, scored a season-high 36 points and collected 13 rebounds.

QUOTABLE II: "Four steals→ I thought (I had) more than four. You know, I'm going to get five-by-five."
-- Wolves forward Kirilenko, who three times in his career has recorded a "5x5": five or more points, rebounds, assists, steals and blocked shots in the same game. He finished with eight points on Friday, along with seven boards, six assists, four steals and three blocks.

HOT: Wolves guard J.J. Barea nailed a pair of 3-pointers during a four-minute stretch of the fourth quarter in which Minnesota widened its lead from six points to 14 and put the game away. Barea made 3-of-5 shots on the night, and has connected on 54.5 percent of his shots overall (18-of-33) during the Wolves' last four games, reaching double digits in each.

NOT: Anderson Varejao's shooting slump continued Friday, when the Cavs' center made only 2-of-10 shots. That brings the Brazilian's totals to 13-of-44 (29.5 percent) over the Cavs' last three games, all losses. The league's leading rebounder also grabbed "only" 14 rebounds, ending his team-record streak of 10 consecutive games with 15 or more boards.

FANTASY SPOTLIGHT: Kirilenko returned after missing four games with back spasms, and the difference in the Timberwolves' defense was noticeable. The veteran Russian doesn't dominate any one statistical category, but contributes in nearly every one. Friday he scored eight points with six assists, while also blocking three shots, grabbing four steals, and collecting seven rebounds, four on the defensive end.

ROOKIE WATCH: Cleveland center Tyler Zeller didn't have a great offensive game, scoring only five points while taking six shots, but he made life difficult for the Wolves' big men, too. Zeller, who collected seven rebounds in 15 minutes, four of them on the offensive end, helped guard Nikola Pekovic, Greg Stiemsma and Dante Cunningham at various times, and while he wasn't entirely responsible for their off night, that trio did combine to go 2-for-12 from the field.

NOTABLE: The victory improved the Wolves' record to 9-9, the latest that Minnesota has been at .500 since 2006-07. ... Cleveland is now 1-8 against Western Conference teams. ... Cavs forward Luke Walton played for the first time in five games, going scoreless (on 0-for-2 shooting) in seven minutes. ... Second-year Minnesota forward Derrick Williams did not play, his fourth DNP since Nov. 21. ... Rumors swept Minneapolis on Thursday that Wolves point guard Rubio was asking the team's training staff to let him play against Cleveland, but general manager David Kahn said after the team's morning shootaround that no such conversation had taken place. Kahn also denied recent rumors that the Timberwolves are discussing a possible trade with the Los Angeles Lakers that would involve L.A. forward Pau Gasol and Minnesota center Pekovic. The teams haven't talked since June, Kahn said. ... Injured guard Brandon Roy will return to the Wolves on Sunday after spending the past couple of weeks in Oregon rehabbing from an arthroscopic procedure on his left knee, but he remains a week or more away from being able to practice again, Kahn said. ... The Cavs have assigned forward Jon Leuer to the Canton Charge of the NVA Developmental League.

UP NEXT: For the Cavaliers, Saturday vs. Pistons, Tuesday vs. Lakers, Wednesday @ Indiana. For the Timberwolves, Wednesday vs. Nuggets, Friday @ New Orleans, Dec. 15 vs. Mavericks.

• Cavaliers: Irving, Leuer, Waiters
• Timberwolves: Budinger, Roy, Rubio

• Cavaliers: --
• Timberwolves: --

• Lead Changes: 0
• Times Tied: 1

• Arena: Target Center, Minneapolis, MN
• Officials: #9 Derrick Stafford, #45 Brian Forte, #75 Eric Dalen
• Attendance: 16623
• Duration: 2:02