Wolves Worn Down By Cavaliers

Wolves Postgame Audio
Kevin McHale

Ryan Gomes

Kevin Ollie

Great players seem to find the perfect moment to halt momentum from an opposing team. Similar to Superman stepping in front of a train, LeBron James scored 14 points in the fourth quarter with a variety of spectacular plays that capped a 93-70 victory for the Cavaliers.

"Well, once again we weren't able to sustain much offense, especially in that second half and too much LeBron in that stretch when they kind of got a really big separation from us," head coach Kevin McHale said.

The Wolves faced a ten-point deficit with 9:51 left in the fourth and then James took over the game. A couple of physical encounters with Rashad McCants fueled the fire for James. He began the onslaught with a 3-point play on a reverse layup in the early stages of the period. With Cleveland holding a 75-62 advantage, James nailed a deep 3-point shot at 7:26 in the quarter and then glanced over at the Wolves bench with the cockiness of a superstar. A bullet no-look pass to J.J. Hickson and two fadeaway jumpers added to the ongoing highlight reel for James. The MVP front-runner finished with 32 points, three assists, and six rebounds as Cleveland improved to 21-4 on the season. Even Wolves fans rose to their feet in a standing ovation for the man aptly called, "The Chosen One."

"LeBron made a few tough shots," McHale said. "He's a handful. The guy's as good as it gets in our league and I thought Ryan [Gomes] fought him pretty hard all night long. Ryan's another guy that we've got to be able to get a way to get some rhythm."

Minnesota battled Cleveland throughout the first half of play and even cut the lead to just one point at the 3:26 mark in the third quarter behind an Al Jefferson jump hook in the lane. Two minutes later, James bolted down the court past three Wolves players on the fast break and finished with a thunderous one-handed dunk. As the crowd gasped, James reveled in the moment. The second half clearly determined the outcome of the contest with Cleveland outscoring Minnesota 49-32.

"I told the guys going in, that this team is the only team in the top five in both field goal percentage and points allowed. They make you uncomfortable. They load up on the strong side and we weren't able to shake off and get our offense going," McHale said.

For the Cavs, Mo Williams did not have an impact on the game with foul trouble but Delonte West added the scoring punch. West reached the lane with ease on his way to 21 points on several left-handed layups. In his return to the Target Center, Wally Szczerbiak recorded ten points and five rebounds with the Cavs earning their 12th victory in the last 13 games.

Mike Miller regained mobility after suffering an ankle injury over a week ago. Several drives to the basket provided the Wolves with a scoring spark and he finished with 14 points and seven rebounds in the loss. Unfortunately for Minnesota, Miller was unable to gain any rhythm from the arc and the team shot just seven percent. Jefferson led all Minnesota scorers with 20 points on 10-of-19 shooting from the field.

McHale tried to shorten the rotation and elected to not play Sebastian Telfair in the loss. Kevin Ollie garnered most of the minutes and was aggressive from the first quarter. In 25 minutes of play, Ollie scored 12 points. Snapping a string of double-digit rebounding performances, Kevin Love was fairly invisible throughout the game and finished with zero points and five boards.

The Wolves will hold practice at the Target Center for the next couple of days before a home game against Houston on Saturday night.

Matt's Stats 12-17

Fan Reactions: "Kevin Love needs to make his putbacks after rebounds for the Wolves to win." --Brett, 22, Minneapolis

"After the way he played in the first half, Kevin Ollie should be a starter." --Mark, 23, Vancouver

--The game started with the Target Center crowd cheering when both LeBron James and former Timberwolf Wally Szczerbiak were introduced.

--James started the game 7-for-7 from the field and didn't miss a shot until seven minutes and 23 seconds into the third quarter. He finished 14-for-20.

--The Wolves finished the game shooting just 40.8 percent from the field. Ryan Gomes, Kevin Love, and Rashad McCants combined to shoot just 1-for-18 from the field.

--Al Jefferson had his usual 20 points and 10 rebounds, but it took him 19 shot attempts to get there. He was 0-for-1 from the free throw line.

--Anderson Varejao, who grew up in Brazil, was seen wearing a winter hat during shootaround before the game. He had his second double-double of the season. In his three starts in place of injured center Zydrunas Ilgauskas, he's averaged 13.7 points and 8.7 rebounds.

--Szczerbiak was cheered when he first checked into the game seven and a half minutes into the first quarter, and scored all 10 of his points in the first half.

--The Wolves shot just 2-for-14 in the first 8:57 of the second quarter.

--Mo Williams was in foul trouble for much of the game and finished with just six points, but Delonte West filled in nicely. He had a season-high 21 points on 9-for-16 shooting.

--Randy Foye, who was averaging 6.1 free throw attempts and 18.7 points per game in December, had his first free throw with 5:38 remaining in the fourth quarter and finished just 1-for-2. Foye has scored just 21 points in the last three games.

--Through the first three quarters, the teams had just eight free throw attempts between them. The Cavs didn't even attempt a free throw from 3:02 remaining in the first quarter to 11:27 left in the fourth.

--LeBron had a number of spectacular plays that pleased the Target Center crowd. He narrowly missed an off-the-backboard alley-oop in the second quarter, had a fastbreak dunk in the third, and made an eye-popping no-look pass in the fourth. He left to a standing ovation from the Minnesota crowd, which he acknowledged with a wave.

--In a case of ironic inverses, Cleveland is now 21-4, while Minnesota is now 4-21. Minnesota is in the midst of an 11-game losing streak, matching Cleveland's 11-game winning streak earlier this season.

--Corey Brewer underwent successful surgery on his injured knee today. The Wolves have lost all of their games since Brewer's injury.

--Matt Everhart