Wolves Fall To Wizards At Home

Wolves Postgame Audio
Kevin McHale

Sebastian Telfair

Ryan Gomes

The self-proclaimed, "Hibachi," Gilbert Arenas has missed a majority of the season but the Wizards found a red-hot replacement for the All-Star guard. Surprisingly, Antawn Jamison and Caron Butler were not the focus of the Washington offense in the first half.

Darius Songaila scored 15 points in the first 24 minutes by hitting all seven of his attempts from the field and did not miss a shot until the third quarter in the 110-99 victory for the Wizards.

"Songaila missed one shot. We weren't able to get stops when we needed them. It wasn't a particularly stellar game from anybody on our side," head coach Kevin McHale said.

Disaster struck in the fourth quarter with five minutes remaining in the game when Mike Miller tossed a high alley-oop pass to Randy Foye on the fast break. Unable to corral the ball, Foye fell to the ground and grabbed his right ankle, writhing in pain. Foye was then escorted off the court, applying no pressure to the injured ankle. Minnesota's leading scorer without Al Jefferson was struggling to walk in the locker room following the game and the team staff is reporting Foye suffered a sprained right ankle with no long-term prognosis.

Minnesota also lost Rodney Carney in the second half due to a lower abdominal contusion to add salt to the Wolves wounds this season.

"Rod [Carney] got hurt in the first half, couldn't play in the second half, Randy [Foye] sprained his ankle, so we're a little bit thin right now, that's about the size of it," McHale said.

In the third quarter, Ryan Gomes provided a spark to the Wolves offense as the team snatched the league at the 9:40 mark of the period. Gomes scored 12 of his 18 points in the third but Washington's stars emerged to gain the advantage once again.

The Wizards headed to the fourth quarter on a 14-3 run and never looked back in only their 15the victory of the season. Jamison and Butler combined for 37 points in the second half after the Wolves confidence disappeared.

Minnesota received a balanced effort from the starters, who produced 83 of the 99 points in the loss. Telfair finished with 18 points and Kevin Love recorded his 19th double-double of the year, which leads all NBA rookies.

With three games left in the homestand this week, the Wolves will have little time to regroup before facing Memphis on Wednesday night.

"We made some glaring defensive errors where we just ran off guys and make up our own stuff a little bit," McHale said. "Tomorrow we'll try to clean it up."

Matt's Stats

Fan Reactions: "They need to defend against the dribble-drive to the basket. Randy Foye has stood out though. He has the fifth gear tonight. He has that extra hussle." Josh, 36, St. Paul

-- It was another rough night for the Wolves, who finished 37-for-85, or 42.5% from the field. The Wolves have shot over 50% only twice since January, and have shot under 50% in each of the last seven games. The big problem though was defense: the Wolves allowed the Wizards to shoot 52.6% from the field. Wolves opponents have shot at least 50% from the field in eight of their last 13 games.

-- Though the focus for the Wizards is on their two stars, Antawn Jamison and Caron Butler, they got a big boost from two unheralded starters: Darius Songaila and Dominic McGuire. They combined for 12-for-16 shooting for 29 points and 13 rebounds. Songaila hit his first seven shots, and had 13 points in the first quarter alone.

-- The third quarter featured two big performances from Ryan Gomes and Antawn Jamison. Gomes had 12 points in the third, while Jamison had 14. Caron Butler took up the scoring load in the fourth quarter, where he scored 12 of his game-high 27 points. Butler's counterpart, Randy Foye, was unfortunately unable to match that after he sprained his ankle and left the game with 5:09 left in the game.

-- Looking on the bright side, Kevin Love recorded his 19th double-double of the season, the Wolves are 82-for-97 from the free throw like in the last four games (good for 84.5%), and Randy Foye had made 28 straight free throws from February 25th against Utah until the third quarter tonight.

-- The Wolves have not won a home game since January 25th against Chicago, and have lost 18 of their last 20 games. They are currently on a 10-game losing streak, their longest since their infamous December losing streak which lasted 13 games.

--Matt Everhart