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Timberwolves coach Rick Adelman had a defensive game plan set up for Knicks point guard Jeremy Lin, who during New York’s four games leading into Saturday had transformed from a bench player to a go-to scorer.
Forcing Lin to his left and building walls to the open basket in transitions, Adelman said, were two major keys to keeping him in check. For much of the second half the Wolves did just that, as Lin was 1-of-12 shooting after halftime for a total of five points.
But it was in the final moments of Saturday’s 100-98 loss to New York that Lin broke free, and it ultimately was the difference in the game. Lin drove to his right, drew a foul on Luke Ridnour and broke a 98-98 tie by making the second of his two free throws.
“Going to his right he’s really aggressive and he gets all the way (to the basket),” Adelman said. “They play he got at the end, for instance, where he got fouled, we let him get to his right hand rather than keep him on the left side of the court. That was the basic plan.”
Forward Kevin Love got the final shot of the night, a fade-away 3-pointer for the win as time expired that wouldn’t fall.
It was a bitter end to a game that featured the Wolves’ largest home crowd since 2004—an announced 20,232 were on hand—and it was a game Minnesota had multiple chances to put away. Instead, it’s the Wolves’ third straight defeat while the Knicks (13-15) escape with their fifth consecutive win.
The Timberwolves (13-15) led by as many as 10 in the third quarter, but by the time Lin made his free throw with 4.9 seconds on the clock the Wolves trailed by 99-98. Advancing the ball to half court after a timeout, Minnesota had an opportunity to take the lead but lost the ball out of bounds without getting off a shot. It was the Wolves’ 23rd turnover of the night—combined with 28 from Friday’s 104-97 loss to Dallas, Minnesota has 51 turnovers in a pair of losses by a combined nine points.
“It just comes down to turnovers,” forward Derrick Williams said. “We did the same thing earlier in the season. We had a couple games with a lot of turnovers, and we came back and really fixed that. We just have to get back to it.”