Big Second Half Beats Grizzlies

If any Wolves game this season were a tale of two halves, it was Wednesday night's contest against the Memphis Grizzlies at Target Center. Without question, the Wolves were stinky in the first ... But behind a big effort from Big Al Jefferson, Minnesota came out inspired in the second to emerge with a 98-94 victory.

At halftime, Jefferson had nine points and six boards. He finished with 29 and 13, and set the Wolves franchise mark for offensive rebounds (273) thanks to five off the offensive window in the second half. Meanwhile, Randy Foye contributed his first double-double (12 points, 10 boards) of the season and Ryan Gomes overcame a tough shooting night (2-of-12) with a huge shot with 52 seconds left in the contest to help secure Minnesota's fifth win in seven games.

"I didn't think we were ready to play in terms of what we had to do to win (in the first half)," said head coach Randy Wittman. "(But) right from the beginning of the second half, we got after it."

Indeed, trailing 52-38 at the midway point, the Wolves scored 60 second-half points to overcome their largest halftime deficit since Dec. 2, 2005, when they beat the Lakers at Staples Center. Minnesota's lack of quality in the first half was obvious when considering two statistics: the Wolves shot 36 percent, and were outrebounded 32-15, no doubt inspiring locker-room tirade from the coaching staff as the team faced a 52-38 halftime deficit. Right?

Jefferson said that Wittman wrote "32-15" on the board at the half, which was the Memphis edge on the glass. Yet after the game, someone could have written "31-19." For the Wolves. But was there a tirade? No, just a simple message:

"It's up to us," said Foye, referring to Wittman's comments at the break. "That's all he said: 'You can turn it around if you want to, or you can let them blow us out.'"

Clearly, the Wolves chose the latter; particularly Jefferson, who rampaged through the third quarter with 12 points, five boards, a destruction of a Rudy Gay dunk attempt and even a drawn charge. Minnesota was able to tie things at 57 on a Jefferson layin at the hole thanks to Randy Foye's dish, though the Grizzlies momentarily recovered to close the third up 68-62.

Still, the third quarter was about attacking the glass (a 15-10 edge) and locking up on D (16 Memphis points), and obviously, an overdose of Jefferson that changed the game's momentum entirely, ultimately propelling the Wolves past Memphis in the final period.

"There were two, three guys on him, but they couldn't stop him and we fed off him," said Foye. "They were getting way too many easy shots, and it was embarrassing for us. We had to come out in the third and bring it, and we did."

Rashad McCants scored Minnesota's first seven points of the fourth quarter to make it a 1-point game (70-69), and the Wolves' first lead of the game finally came on - you guessed it - a Jefferson hoop at the 5:10 mark. The game's final moments were on the tense side, as neither team could score for about a 2-minute stretch with three to play until Mike Miller's three cut Minnesota's lead to 86-85 with 1:10 left.

However, Gomes hit just his second shot of the night (2-of-12) at the perfect time, canning a 17-foot jumper with 52 seconds on the clock. Kirk Snyder then pulled down a huge rebound on a Miller miss, and converted both free throws with 35.5 remaining.

"I told Gomes that the shots he was taking were the same shots I've seen him hit many times, so keep taking them," said Jefferson. "He hit the one that counted."

Sealing the game from the line was Foye, who grabbed another Memphis miss and converted both shots to give him his 12 points, all in the second half. With his 10 boards, Foye now has 27 in his last three games, for which Wittman offered postgame credit that you can watch in the WolvesVision player.

Speaking of Foye...

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Villanova Teammates Unite on NBA Court
Foye had the chance to guard his close friends and college teammate Kyle Lowry for the first time in the pros. The two had not played against each other in the NBA, as Lowry was out nearly all of his rookie season with an injury, and Foye missed the team's first meeting this season with his knee injury. Before the game, we spoke to Lowry, and he said he thinks Foye will be an All-Star one day. In fact, take a listen:

Kyle Lowry on Randy Foye

When in the game together, Foye and Lowry guarded one another, and it was Foye who got the better of the matchup. Kind of like the Wolves got the better of the Grizzlies - at least in the second half. Foye added three assists to his 12-10 double-double to just one turnover, while Lowry finished with eight points, one board and one assist in 21 minutes.

Minnesota's back in action Friday night in Indiana.