Wolves Postgame Audio
Kevin McHale

Al Jefferson

Kevin Love

The two rookies that were swapped on draft day were the storyline heading into the contest tonight. However, down the stretch, Good Ol' Al became the hero.

Al Jefferson scored nine of his 36 points to lead Minnesota past Memphis 108-98 in overtime on Monday night. With three minutes remaining in the extra period after both teams traded baskets, Jefferson took control of the game.

"They battled hard and Al was tremendous," head coach Kevin McHale said. "Al had it going and when the big horse gets it going like that, it's very good."

Jefferson used his power on the low-block to get a 3-point play and give the Wolves their first lead in overtime at 96-93. On the following Minnesota possession, Jefferson stepped out to 17-feet and nailed a jumper for the five-point advantage. O.J. Mayo then missed two consecutive attempts from the 3-point line as the Grizzlies dropped to 10-21 on the season.

"In the second half we had much better ball movement and everybody got into it. We got some stuff with the screen-and-roll," McHale said.

While Mayo did not score a point in the overtime session, he certainly showed why the Wolves originally used the third overall pick for his draft rights this past summer. On draft day, Minnesota traded Mayo for Love and Mike Miller as the main components of the deal. Mayo scored 15 points in the second half and hit several critical shots in the fourth quarter. At 5:41 in the fourth, both Mayo and Kevin Love were featured on the court playing significant minutes. The game quickly turned into a Pac-10 matchup between the former USC guard and the former UCLA forward, just one year from their college days.

Minnesota ran two consecutive plays for Love down the stretch of the fourth quarter, which resulted in the Wolves capturing the lead at 79-77. Love scored 10 of his 17 points in the fourth period along with seven rebounds. Mayo rose to the occasion with a floater in the lane and then a deep 3-point shot to hand back the lead to Memphis. During the Grizzlies fourth quarter run, Mayo scored seven straight points and Memphis held a five-point lead with 2:49 remaining in the game. As a part of the Wolves comeback in the fourth quarter, Randy Foye converted a 3-point play and Jefferson hit 1-of-2 free throws to force Marc Gasol to the bench with six fouls. Mayo then drained a contested jumpshot to tie the game at 89-89 with 27.6 seconds remaining on the clock. A poorly executed play from the Wolves would send the game into overtime.

"We tried to rip Al and get him the ball," McHale said. "We got a little funky, I think. We went a little fast, everybody got antsy. Foye set the pick too early, Al left too early, and everything was too early. It looked good on paper; I know that. It didn't function very well."

The outcome of the contest was surprising considering the dismal second quarter from Minnesota. The Wolves held a 24-19 lead after the first quarter but then only scored eight points on 1-for-16 shooting in the second period. At halftime, Minnesota launched 12 3-point shots and did not connect on a single attempt. Memphis captured all the momentum heading to the locker room at halftime with a 39-32 lead.

"Well, we sent basketball back to about 1952 in that second quarter. That was just terrible. We got much better energy in that second half. We had a lull, when everybody held the ball, because yesterday we moved the ball in practice like we did in the second half, and then we come out there and lay an egg like that in the second quarter, it was just ridiculous," McHale said.

Memphis received a balanced offensive attack from its starting five. Rudy Gay, Marc Gasol and Kyle Lowry joined Mayo with double-figure scoring performances. On the other side, Sebastian Telfair, who finished with nine points, led the Wolves bench along with Love. Kevin Ollie hit crucial free throws down the stretch for a 6-for-7 shooting night at the line and 14 points for the game.

Despite the dreadful second quarter, Minnesota shot 49.4 percent from the field in the game. The Wolves also reached the charity stripe 37 times and won the battle of second chance points. The third time was a charm for Minnesota in overtime games with losses to San Antonio and Golden State earlier this year.

The Wolves hit the road for a contest against Dallas on Tuesday night.

Matt's Stats 12-29

--Rudy Gay, Memphis' leading scorer, made just one field goal in the second half and overtime. He shot 1-for-10 in that span.

--Al Jefferson scored 27 points in the second half and overtime, including 10 in the fourth quarter and nine in overtime. His 38 points were a season high.

--O.J. Mayo scored a team-high 23 points for Memphis on an efficient 10-for-17 shooting and scored nine point in the fourth quarter. However, he did not score in overtime, and went 0-for-4.

--After shooting a combined 21-for-37 from three-point range in the previous two games, Minnesota hit just one in tonight's game. They shot 0-for-12 from downtown in the first half.

--Veteran point guard Kevin Ollie played all five minutes and went 6-for-6 from the free throw line in overtime. He finished with 14 points.

--Craig Smith, who is averaging 1.4 assists per game this season, had five assists in the game, all coming in the first quarter.

--The Wolves shot a blistering 10-for-11 from the field in the first 8:06 of the game. They followed up this hot start by shooting just 2-for-22 in the rest of the first half. They scored only eight points in the second quarter, a season low for a single quarter.

--Despite coach Kevin McHale encouraging the Wolves to add more pace to the game, the Wolves scored only two fastbreak points. Memphis had 16.

--In the battle of lottery pick rookies, Kevin Love had 17 points and 7 rebounds. He went 5-for-7 from the field and 5-for-6 from the free throw line. O.J. Mayo, meanwhile, led Memphis in scoring with 23 points on 10-for-17 shooting.

--Rashad McCants, who led the Wolves in scoring the last two games, had zero points in just 12 minutes of action.

--The Wolves shot 49.4 percent from the field. They are now 6-1 when shooting at least 45% from the field, and 0-23 when they do not.

--Memphis starting point guard Kyle Lowry, who is averaging 3.8 assists per game, had a season-high 12 assists tonight. His aggressive drives to the basket were rewarded with trips to the charity stripe, where he shot a perfect 8-for-8. He finished with 14 points.

--Kevin Love hit a 20-foot jumper with 9:07 remaining in the fourth quarter. It was Love's first field goal from outside the paint since the Wolves' game against San Antonio on December 12th.

--Love also scored five of Minnesota's eight points in the second quarter, all coming at the free throw line.

--Marc Gasol and Darrell Arthur, both rookies, fouled out of the game. They each spent extensive time guarding Al Jefferson. Big Al was 6-for-11 at the free throw line.

--Matt Everhart