Wolves Worn Down by Spurs
Jonah BallowWolves Editor/Writer
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Tonight at the Target Center, San Antonio displayed the same type of fundamental basketball that has made the franchise a perpetual championship contender. The Spurs improved their positioning in the Western Conference playoff race with a 103-85 victory over the Wolves.
"Unfortunately it’s a game of two halves, but we only played one. They came out in the third quarter and stepped on us and we were not able to recover from it," Damien Wilkins said.
As seen in the past three home losses, Minnesota battled early before enduring big runs from the opposition. San Antonio ended the second quarter on a 13-2 burst to expand its advantage to eight points heading into the locker room. Following halftime, the Spurs quickly jumped out to another 6-0 run to blow the game wide open.
Behind Darko Milicic's impressive start to the contest, Minnesota only trailed by one point after the first quarter of action. The former No. 2 overall pick showed no fear while facing one of the greatest post players of all-time. Milicic established deep position several times and utilized hook shots against Duncan inside the paint to score 10 of his 12 points. For most of his time in Minnesota, Milicic has added a defensive presence but tonight, he made the highlight reel with a sweeping sky-hook over Duncan.
On the perimeter, rookie Wayne Ellington tied a career high with 17 points. The shooting guard attacked the rim and continued to elevate his play in light of a large deficit. The 7-for-10 shooting was the most efficient offensive output from any of the Wolves tonight as the team recorded a 39 percent clip from the floor.
"Its always a good feeling to play well, but it’s an even better feeling when you get a better outcome," Ellington said.
Kevin Love was a pregame scratch due to a left mid-foot sprain suffered in the loss to Denver on Wednesday night. Ryan Hollins also missed the game after the league handed down a two-game suspension following his altercations with a couple of Mavericks earlier this week. Without both post players, Rambis was forced to place Nathan Jawai and Oleksiy Pecherov on the floor, counteracting San Antonio's frontline.
The Spurs are dealing with their own injury woes with Tony Parker missing at least six weeks after he broke a bone in his hand on March 6. Parker's replacement, George Hill filled in nicely by scoring 19 points and dishing out eight assists for San Antonio. Manu Ginobili contributed seven dimes, focusing on spreading the basketball instead of lighting up the box score.
Small forward Richard Jefferson bounced back from a tough stretch of games with 19 points to improve the Spurs to 38-25 on the season.
"We come out and we play really hard and are aggressive with a lot of energy and having fun," Ellington said. "But when we are coming out of the locker room after halftime we are kind of dead. I think if we pick that second half up we'll definitely see a run. A win will make everybody feel better since everything is better with a win."
Minnesota searches for some success on the road trip, flying out to Sacramento for the first of four consecutive games away from the Target Center.
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