Nets-Timberwolves Preview

By JEFF MEZYDLO
Posted Jan 22 2013 3:02PM

Given Brooklyn's success this month and Minnesota's lengthy rough stretch, the Nets may have a good chance to end their road struggles against the Timberwolves.

Looking for a third consecutive victory overall, the Nets try to avoid a ninth straight road loss to the Timberwolves on Wednesday night.

A winner of 11 of 13, Brooklyn (25-16) improved to 9-1 in January with an 88-85 win at New York at on Monday. Joe Johnson scored 25 points and hit the go-ahead jumper with 22 seconds left to help the Nets move within a game of the Atlantic Division-leading Knicks.

"It's a confidence booster for us," Johnson said. "It just goes to show we've come a long way and we're still trying to get better."

Brooklyn averaged 83.5 points while shooting 40.0 percent during a four-game road skid to end December. While winning four of five away from home in January, the Nets have put up 103.4 and shot 45.7 percent. Johnson has averaged 21.2 points in those five contests.

The Nets hope that success continues with a visit to Minnesota, where they are 4-17 all-time and have averaged 87.8 points during an eight-game slide that dates to Nov. 23, 2002. Brooklyn has lost two in a row and six of seven overall to the Timberwolves after a 107-96 loss Nov. 5.

Johnson scored 19 and Deron Williams added 18 points and 13 assists, but the Timberwolves (17-21) made half of their field-goal attempts for the game and outscored the hosts 32-10 in the fourth quarter.

Though Minnesota won that game without stars Kevin Love and Ricky Rubio, the Timberwolves could have a difficult time continuing their series success Wednesday. Love will miss his 10th straight game, guard Malcolm Lee and forward Chase Budinger are also out and center Nikola Pekovic and rookie Alexey Shved could both sit for a third consecutive contest.

"We can't afford to lose anybody else," forward Derrick Williams said. "There are people playing with injuries."

The Timberwolves have gone 5-12 in their last 17, and they've averaged 89.6 points and allowed 100.3 while dropping six of seven. Minnesota blew an 18-point second-quarter lead and allowed Atlanta to shoot 57.7 percent in a 104-96 road loss Monday.

The Hawks outscored the Timberwolves 60-38 in the second half and went on a 35-17 run that spanned portions of the second and third quarters.

Minnesota averages an NBA-low 21.7 points in the third quarter, with Brooklyn at 22.1. The Timberwolves, however, have been outscored in that period in each of the last 12 games.

"Like I've been saying all year, the third quarter has been killing us," said Williams, who had eight points and shot 3 of 12 versus Brooklyn in November. "As long as we pick it up in that quarter I think we can win more games."

Minnesota is 2-6 under assistant Terry Porter, who continues to coach the team while Rick Adelman cares for his sick wife. It's possible Adelman could return to the team this week.

Lopez leads Nets past Timberwolves 91-83

By DAVE CAMPBELL
Posted Jan 23 2013 11:52PM

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) In a new city and now with a new coach, Brook Lopez and the Brooklyn Nets have found balance and confidence the franchise hasn't had for years.

The big man in the middle has been quite the complement to their sharp-shooting backcourt, even if he's hesitant to admit it.

Lopez strengthened his case for a spot on the All-Star team with 22 points on 10-for-16 shooting, helping the Nets hold off the Minnesota Timberwolves 91-83 Wednesday night to improve to 12-2 under interim coach P.J. Carlesimo.

"We just have a number of great guys who are very talented individually, and we're just playing well together," Lopez said. "That's the best part."

The All-Star reserves will be announced Thursday.

"You know I never watch any of that stuff. I'll probably be sitting in my room with the lights turned off, doing nothing," Lopez said, smiling.

When the lights are on, the Nets are 9-1 with their lineup of Lopez, the NBA's highest-scoring center, perennial All-Star guards Deron Williams and Joe Johnson, and Gerald Wallace and Reggie Evans at the forward spots. Williams and Johnson scored 18 points apiece, and the Nets never trailed despite some sloppy stretches of play.

C.J. Watson added 14 points for the Nets, who won for the first time in their last nine games at Minnesota.

"We're grateful for the win, but hopefully we realize we need to play a little more consistently than we did tonight," said Carlesimo, who took over last month when Avery Johnson was fired.

Andrei Kirilenko had 15 points and Dante Cunningham added 14 for the Wolves, who played without shooting guard Alexey Shved (left ankle) and center Nikola Pekovic (right quadriceps) for the third straight game. That's not to mention the four others out with longer-term injuries, a troubling list led by Kevin Love.

"Any time you play a team like this, all we talk about is they're dangerous," Williams said. "They've got a couple guys out, but these other guys are hungry. They want the minutes. They relish the minutes."

Including guard Ricky Rubio, who was visibly upset on the bench at the end of the game. On a strict limit of 28 minutes per game in his return from reconstructive left knee surgery, Rubio checked in around the 4-minute mark but was called back to the bench when acting coach Terry Porter decided to keep J.J. Barea in the game.

"I didn't like it, but he did what he thinks is best for the team," said Rubio, who had six assists and three steals in 24 minutes but only five points. "I want to know what happened. We're going to talk."

With Rubio guarding Williams and Luke Ridnour on Johnson, the Nets as they often do had mostly favorable matchups in the backcourt. But whether it was bad passes that sailed out of bounds, a willingness to settle too often for long jump shots or scrappy defense by the Wolves, the Nets never put the game away.

They even took a 66-52 lead shortly after halftime, only to let Ridnour lead the Wolves back within two points again, burning the Nets often with backdoor cuts or fast breaks off their careless turnovers.

"The fact that they made a run and we withstood it and still held `em off on their home floor means a lot," said Johnson, who went nearly 24 1/2 minutes without scoring until a flurry late in the third quarter.

Watson picked up where Johnson left off, playing a game of "Around the World" at Barea's expense early in the fourth with nine straight points for the Nets.

Fresh from an important win over the crosstown rival Knicks that moved them within one game of the Atlantic Division lead, the Nets needed to avoid the natural letdown against a reeling, injury-ravaged opponent. For all their effort to make this a game, the Wolves were just too short-handed to gain control after falling behind 14-2 from the opening tip.

The Wolves fell to 3-9 in January, 2-8 since Love re-injured his right hand. They attempted only six free throws, their fewest in almost six years. One bright spot was Chris Johnson, signed on Saturday to a 10-day contract from the D-League. He played all 12 minutes in the second quarter and had 10 points during that stretch.

"It's hard for us to finish games. We just have to want to win," Rubio said. "Sometimes it seems like we don't want to win."

Notes: Carlesimo was asked what the ceiling is for Lopez, who entering the night was the only player in the NBA currently averaging at least 18 points, 7 rebounds and 2 blocks per game. "I don't know, and I think that's a good thing," Carlesimo said. ... Ridnour has scored in double digits in 10 of his last 11 games. He's the only Wolves player to start every game this season. ... Rubio is 0 for 11 from 3-point range this season. The Wolves are the only NBA team with a 3-point percentage worse than 30.

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Follow Dave Campbell on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/DaveCampbellAP

Notebook: Nets 91, Timberwolves 83

Phil Miller, for NBA.com
Posted Wed Jan 23, 2013 11:58 PM - Updated Wed Jan 23, 2013 11:58 PM

THE FACTS: Brook Lopez scored 22 points, 10 of them in the first six minutes, as the Brooklyn Nets opened a quick 12-point lead to win in Minneapolis for the first time in more than a decade, handing the Minnesota Timberwolves a 91-83 loss in Target Center. The Nets, who improved to 12-2 under interim coach P.J. Carlesimo, outscored the Wolves 14-2 in the first four minutes and never trailed, breaking an eight-game losing streak in Minnesota. Brooklyn guards Joe Johnson and Deron Williams added 18 points apiece, while Andrei Kirikenko led Minnesota with 15 points. Wolves guard Ricky Rubio did not play in the fourth quarter, at one point called back from the scorers' table when fill-in coach Terry Porter elected to stick with J.J. Barea, and the second-year guard was visibly angry on the bench, with teammates trying to calm him down.

QUOTABLE: "TP preferred to play the players we were playing. I don't know what to say. ... I didn't like it, but he did what he thinks is best for the team. I want to know what happened. We're going to talk."
-- Ricky Rubio

THE STAT: 4 -- Free throws made by Minnesota, in six attempts, both season lows. Free throws are an essential part of the Wolves' game -- only the Lakers, Thunder, Nuggets and Bobcats have shot more free throws -- and the Nets' ability to defend Minnesota without fouling helped shut down the Wolves' offense.

TURNING POINT: The Wolves used a 14-7 run to pull within two points, 68-66, early in the fourth quarter, but Brooklyn guard C.J. Watson made sure it got no closer. The Nets ran four plays for Watson in six possessions, producing one open look from 20 feet or farther after another, and the sixth-year guard nailed them all. Watson scored nine consecutive points in a three-minute span to restore Brooklyn's nine-point lead.

QUOTABLE II: "I'll probably be sitting in my room with the lights turned off, doing nothing."
-- Brook Lopez on what he will be doing when the All-Star reserves are announced on Thursday.

HOT: With three minutes left in the first half, Deron Williams had scored only two points, and had been mostly passive against the Wolves' small guards. But when Rubio checked in to guard Williams, Brooklyn's leader seemed to realize he needed to step forward. Williams repeatedly took the ball and created his own shot against Rubio, bewildering the Wolves' guard with a nine-point flurry of jumpers and drives to close the half.

NOT: Barea couldn't contain Watson, who scored nine straight points to open the fourth quarter for Brooklyn, but that wasn't the only embarrassing defensive lapse the 6-foot Wolves guard suffered. In trying to stay with Watson during that stretch, Barea also committed five fouls (one of them offensive) in less than four minutes.

FANTASY SPOTLIGHT: Chris Johnson, Minnesota's D-League find, finally missed a shot on Wednesday (he made all six shots he took in his first two games with the Wolves), but the second-year center from LSU had a big impact once more. Johnson, whose energy under the basket helped limit Nets big men Kris Humphries and Andray Blatche to a combined 4-for-16 shooting, made 6-of-10 shots for 12 points, to go with six rebounds and three blocked shots.

NOTABLE: More than a decade had passed since the Nets' most recent victory in Minneapolis, a 96-82 New Jersey victory on Nov. 23, 2002. The Timberwolves had beaten the Nets at Target Center eight consecutive times, and are now 17-5 at home against the Nets. ... Nets guard Deron Williams told reporters after shootaround on Wednesday that he doesn't believe there is any truth to a new round of trade rumors about center Brook Lopez. "Brook is our center. Brook is having an All-Star year, so I don't see Brook going anywhere," Williams said ... Wolves coach Rick Adelman missed his ninth game to be with his wife Mary Kay, who has been hospitalized. Terry Porter is now 2-7 while filling in for Adelman. ... Guard Alexey Shved and center Nikola Pekovic missed their third straight game Wednesday, though both players say they are making progress after being injured last Thursday against the Clippers. Shved, who sprained an ankle in that game, and Pekovic, who suffered a bruised thigh, have yet to practice at full-speed, and Porter said the decision to keep both players out of uniform Wednesday was "not close."

UP NEXT: For the Nets, Friday @ Memphis, Saturday @ Houston, Monday vs. Orlando. For the Timberwolves, Friday @ Washington, Saturday @ Charlotte, Wednesday vs. L.A. Clippers.

• Nets: Shengelia, Taylor
• Timberwolves: Budinger, Lee, Roy

• Nets: --
• Timberwolves: Porter

• Lead Changes: 0
• Times Tied: 0

• Arena: Target Center, Minneapolis, MN
• Officials: #14 Ed Malloy, #31 Scott Wall, #65 Sean Wright
• Attendance: 15785
• Duration: 2:04