Wolves Beat Nets In Thriller

---

Jonah Ballow
Wolves Editor/Writer
Email / Twitter

Kurt Rambis DOWNLOAD MP3 Al Jefferson DOWNLOAD MP3 Wayne Ellington DOWNLOAD MP3

There is a new pack in town and the opening night crowd learned a little bit about their hometown team on Wednesday night. Facing a 14-point deficit heading into the fourth quarter, the Wolves battled back to capture a 95-93 victory over the Nets.

"We obviously didn't shoot the ball very well, but I liked the way our guys finished the ball game with aggressiveness, they didn't quit," head coach Kurt Rambis said.

Al Jefferson returned the floor in regular season action for the first time since undergoing knee surgery last February. After scoring the first basket of the contest, Big Al only shot 1-for-8 from the field and finished with nine points. The offensive issues did not deter Jefferson from making the second biggest play of the evening.

"I told him he had to put the team on his back and start carrying them," Rambis said. "The team responded and starting giving him the ball and turned the tide, starting getting some fouls, started getting to the line. A lot of good things happened whenever he became aggressive. I was most proud of him when he came up with a critical block on Lopez. Those are things we are going to need out of Al. We are going to need his scoring and his defense as well."

Minnesota took a 92-91 lead behind two free throws from Jonny Flynn with 34.6 seconds remaining in the game. New Jersey turned to its workhorse center, Brook Lopez, who dominated through three quarters by scoring 27 points. As Lopez gained control in the paint, Jefferson met him in mid-air and rejected the second-year big man. The Target Center crowd launched to their feet when Flynn collected the roundball.

Flynn then knocked down two more from the charity stripe in a true display of determination. The rookie was held to just five points before exploding in the final stanza for 13 of his 18 points and 7-for-8 at the free throw line.

"I like [Flynn's] nastiness, I like his grit; those are things that are hard to teach a young player. The skills, the knowledge all of that will come with time, but when guys love to compete and win, you just love having guys like that on your team," Rambis said.

Devin Harris connected on an extremely difficult shot to tie the game at 93-93 on the next possession. The Wolves held for the final shot with Flynn at the top of the arc waiting for a screen from Jefferson. All eyes focused on the Syracuse product when he diced to the lane. Flynn missed the jumper but Damien Wilkins wrestled the loose ball away from New Jersey and hit the putback off the glass for the game winner. And, yes, the biggest play of the night.

Wilkins was consistent across the board with 12 points, 10 boards, and four steals. One of the eight new faces on this Wolves squad exemplified the type of effort Rambis preached just minutes before the game.

On the offensive side of the floor, Minnesota struggled mightily. The team shot only 36.6 percent from the field and 1-for-7 behind the 3-point line. Defense was the same type of issue as the Wolves allowed several back-door buckets while not creating help from the weak side.

Corey Brewer put his stamp on the game by forcing three steals in the victory. Rookie Wayne Ellington played the entire fourth quarter and shot a solid 50 percent in his first NBA game.

The Wolves will hope the momentum will carry over to a difficult matchup on Friday night. LeBron James and the Cavaliers march into town for the next home contest to face a spirited Minnesota squad.

---

For more news and notes on the team follow the Minnesota Timberwolves and Jonah on Twitter.