Wolves Come Up Short At Home

Wolves Postgame Audio
Kevin McHale

Al Jefferson

Randy Foye

The Magic swiped away all the confidence from the Wolves after they snapped a 13-game losing streak against New York. With dominant first and fourth quarters, Orlando cruised to its seventh straight win in the 118-94 victory on Saturday night.

"My fear was that we would come out with low energy," head coach Kevin McHale said. "After we got the energy back and we came in at halftime, I thought we would be fine. The third quarter we had opportunities to get something going but never did. We made a little run in the early fourth, but again it never seemed to me like we could muster the defensive intensity that we needed to get that game going our way."

In the final three minutes of the game, Hedo Turkoglu hit a fadeaway jumper that just skied over the backboard, which halted any comeback from Minnesota. As evident from Turkoglu's shot, Orlando was red-hot in the fourth quarter by shooting 64 percent from the field. Turkoglu scored 11 of his 26 points in that final quarter to lead the Magic.

"They start making runs and this team has a tendency to sometimes hang their heads for three or four minutes. During that stretch where we kind of hung our heads, they got all the separation they needed," McHale said.

Facing a five-point deficit heading into the fourth quarter, the Wolves received back-to-back 3-pointers from McCants and Carney to tie the game at 82-82 with 10:14 left in the contest. In the following seven minutes, Orlando went on a 20-5 run to push its lead to 102-87. Jameer Nelson finished with 20 points, six rebounds, and eight assists and was a key figure in the fourth quarter rally.

"Nelson hit a couple three's late but I thought for the most part we did a decent job on Jameer," McHale said. "They're tough covers for us right now without Mike Miller and without Corey Brewer, sometimes we're out there and we're short." Beyond allowing 39 points in the final period, Minnesota struggled mightily from the free throw line all night. At the 3:10 mark, Foye missed one-of-two from the line and the Target Center crowd headed for the exits. The failed attempt was indicative of the 57 percent shooting the team would endure from the charity stripe. On the other side, Orlando hit 20-of-25 from the free throw line and 50 percent from the arc.

The Wolves bench kept the team alive through the first three quarters with 47 of the 94 points. Rashad McCants parlayed the great game against New York with 21 points to lead all Minnesota scorers. In over 37 minutes of action, McCants hit 4-of-7 from the 3-point line and added three steals on the defensive side of the floor. The other key contributor off the bench was Rodney Carney and his 11 points on a perfect 3-of-3 shooting display from deep range.

At the end of the second quarter, McCants scored five crucial points to give the Wolves a two-point lead heading into the locker room. The Target Center crowed jumped to their feet in a standing ovation for the team that overcame a nine-point Orlando lead in the first quarter. The feeling was short-lived after the Magic outscored Minnesota 26-19 in the third quarter.

"I think there are times when things are not going our way and we get a little bit [down]. That two or three minutes where we almost feel sorry for ourselves, we're missing easy shots, missing free throws, missing a lot of stuff, and that's part of the game. That shouldn't affect your defense but it does right now and we got to get past that," McHale said.

Dwight Howard started the game with 11 points in the first quarter and looked unstoppable. Minnesota clamped down on defense and held the All-Star center to just six points the rest of the game. Howard finished with 17 points and five rebounds, which is a significant drop from his season averages. The defending dunk champion did show the home crowd his 38-inch vertical in the third quarter with an alley-oop one-handed dunk. At 6-foot-11, Howard's head rose above the cylinder and he never touched the rim. Al Jefferson had difficulty maneuvering around Howard in the paint with his tremendous shot-blocking skills. When Howard switched off Jefferson on defense, the lane opened up and Jefferson took advantage to score 16 points in the game.

The Wolves will return to the Target Center for another home contest against the Grizzlies on Monday night.

Matt's Stats 12-27

Fan Reactions: "When Kevin Love slammed down hard on the Magic, I knew the Wolves curse was dispelled." --Joe, Iowa City, 24

"After one win you try to build on two, two wins you try to get three, and so on. I'm not booking my playoff tickets yet, but we're looking good." --Erik, Apple Valley, 35

--Tonight was 80's Night at the Target Center, and the game started with the original Timberwolves opening video with a wolf running through a stylized forest.

--The Magic opened the game with a 15-2 run in the opening three minutes, taking advantage of the fact the Wolves were on the second leg of back-to-back games.

--To the surprise and delight of the crowd, Mark Madsen checked into the game at 6:40 left in the first quarter. He scored his first points of the season on a goaltending by Dwight Howard.

--After the game, coach Kevin McHale said he brought Madsen and Brian Cardinal into the game early to provide energy off the bench after a lethargic start by the Wolves.

--Rashard Lewis scored 12 of his 24 points in the third quarter, and finished with four three-pointers.

--The Magic shot 27-for-42 from the field in the second half, good for 64.3% shooting, and shot 53.8% for the game.

--Jameer Nelson had 12 points and Hedo Turkoglu had 11 in the fourth quarter. The Magic scored 39 points in the fourth quarter, the most in a single quarter by the Magic this season.

--Though the Wolves bench outscored the Magic's 47-to-24, the Magic's starters outscored the Wolves' 94-47.

--After making 13 three-pointers in yesterday's game against New York, the Wolves continued their hot shooting from deep, making 8-of-13.

--The Magic countered the Wolves' three-point touch with a barrage of their own. The Magic, second in the league in three-pointers made per game with 9.6, finished 12-for-24 from downtown.

--The Wolves' hot three-point shooting was offset by struggles from the free throw line. The Wolves finished 16-28 from the charity stripe, good for just 57.1 percent.

--Kevin Love recorded his ninth game of the year in which he collected at least 10 rebounds. He is leading all rookies with 7.7 rebounds per game, and his 3.4 offensive rebounds per game is seventh among all NBA players.

--Though Dwight Howard finished with just five rebounds, he controlled the paint on the defensive end. He finished with five blocks, and forced Al Jefferson and other Timberwolves into several difficult shots.

--Jameer Nelson continued his strong play since returning from injury on December 5th. He is averaging 20 points, 5.8 assists, and 1.8 steals per game on 58 percent field-goal shooting in December. He's also shooting a blistering 60.7 percent from three-point distance this month.

--Rashad McCants was the Wolves' leading scoring for the second straight night with 21 points, including four three-pointers. He finished just 2-for-7 in the fourth quarter, however, and went 3-for-8 from the free throw line.

--Al Jefferson was once again the focus of the opponent's defensive scheme, and struggled to get clean looks again Howard. He finished with 16 points on 7-for-21 shooting.

--After scoring 16 points against San Antonio and 20 points against New York, Sebastian Telfair had just six points on 2-for-7 shooting.

--Rodney Carney provided a spark off the bench for the Wolves. He went 3-for-3 from three-point range, and finished with 11 points. All of his shot attempts came from the baseline.

--Randy Foye finished 5-for-15 from the field. His first three makes all came on fastbreak opportunities.

--Matt Everhart