Wolves Snap Skid With Rout of Grizzlies

Wolves Postgame Audio
Kevin McHale

Mike Miller

Kevin Love

Ryan Gomes

There are few teams the Wolves own in the NBA. Mark down the Grizzlies as one of those teams.

In three meetings this season, Minnesota found the winning side of the column. Despite an injury-riddled roster, the Wolves snapped a 10-game losing skid at the Target Center in the 104-79 victory on Wednesday night.

"We started off good and maintained it," head coach Kevin McHale said. "Guys made shots, which helps, but they played hard and had good ball movement."

Randy Foye was unable to suit up for the game with a sprained right ankle and Rodney Carney dressed in street clothes after suffering an abdominal contusion against Washington on Monday night.

Minnesota set the tone early in the first quarter with a 25-10 lead just eight minutes into the game. Mike Miller, Kevin Love, and Ryan Gomes joined forces to fill the void left by Foye and Carney. At the end of the first period, the Wolves held a 21-point advantage and were celebrated with a standing ovation from the home crowd.

"It was important to make some shots, have some stuff happen to us in a positive way. We haven't had a lot of positive things happening lately either, during the game, after the game, whatever, guys getting hurt and everything else. It was just to go out there and have some positive things happen for us," McHale said.

McHale moved Miller to the shooting guard position, which provided Minnesota with a beneficial matchup on rookie O.J. Mayo. Miller posted up Mayo on the low blocks and used his size to score in the paint. With 18 points and 3-for-5 shooting from the 3-point line, Miller gave the Wolves exactly what they needed to get back on the winning track.

"Mike [Miller] played very well, a lot of guys played well, which is what we need," McHale said. "We need multiple guys playing well."

Rookie Kevin Love is gaining steam after a slow start to his first season in the league. Love recorded his 20th double-double of the season behind a masterful all-around performance. At the power forward spot, Love finished with 19 points, 11 boards, and four assists in Minnesota's 19th win of the year.

Memphis attempted a massive comeback by storming out of the locker room into the third quarter. At the 7:50 mark of the period, the Grizzlies knocked down the Wolves lead to just three points. Minnesota quickly answered with an 8-1 run and took a 12-point lead into the fourth quarter.

Ryan Gomes scored 12 of his 25 points in the second half to lead all scorers in the game. The Wolves have been able to rely on Gomes' consistency on both sides of the floor with all the injuries to key players. While defending both forward positions, Gomes helped to limit Rudy Gay to just 12 points.

"There are times when I think we probably don't do a good enough of just directing the ball towards him, and there are times when he can get a little bit out of the offense. We've got to make sure we keep him involved in the offense," McHale said.

Mayo was fairly ineffective until the fourth quarter. The former USC guard ended up with 18 points on 7-for-17 shooting from the field.

The Wolves have two more games in the current four-game homestand. On Friday, Minnesota hopes to string together back-to-back wins as the Knicks head to town in their only appearance at the Target Center this year.

Matt's Stats

Fan Reactions: "I think sometimes they should be playing more of the regulars. I understand needing to play the bench players, but maybe not all five at once." Dave, 47, Bloomington

-- It seems like Kevin McHale listened to Dave of Bloomington, because for most of the fourth quarter coach Mac added Gomes, who led the Wolves with 25 points on just 16 shot attempts, to the bench squad, and the results were outstanding. The bench scored 25 of its 32 points in the fourth quarter. Brian Cardinal hit three three-pointers in the fourth, and Craig Smith muscled his way to 13 points and eight rebounds overall. The Memphis bench, meanwhile, finished with just 14 points even though six players got off the pine.

-- The Wolves were led by a three-pronged attack from Mike Miller, Kevin Love, and the aforementioned Gomes. Miller and Love both finished with double-doubles in under 30 minutes of playing time. Miller in particular played more aggressive than recent games, putting up 12 shots for 18 points and snagging three offensive boards. His 12 shot attempts were the most he's had since February 20, and only the third time he's shot that many times since December. The tremendous trio combined for 62 of the Wolves' 104 points (and 54 of the Wolves' 73 points through the first three quarters) and 27 rebounds.

-- Speaking of rebounds, the Wolves dominated the glass tonight, finishing with 48 rebounds to Memphis' paltry 28. The Wolves had 14 offensive rebounds, led by Smith and Love, who each finished with four. Darko Milicic, who finished with a double-double of 10 points and 10 rebounds, was the only consistent threat on the boards for Memphis, who had just five offensive rebounds.

-- The Wolves snapped a ten-game losing streak with this victory, which was their first home win since January 25. It was the first time the Wolves had scored over 100 points since February 25. After averaging 105.1 points per game in January and 101.1 in February, the Wolves had put up just 94 points per game through the first five games of March.

--Matt Everhart