Minnesota Timberwolves shock Brooklyn Nets; snatch a come from behind victory after trailing by 22 – NBA Recap
In an extraordinary turnaround, the Minnesota Timberwolves outscored the Brooklyn Nets 32-10 in the final period to pick up a come from behind 107-96 victory against the Nets at the Barclays Arena on Monday night.
The Nets held a comfortable lead entering into the final period after clearly being the better team through three quarters of the game. But the Wolves staged an unbelievable comeback in the final period as the Nets turned the ball over on crucial possessions. Nikola Pekovic led five Wolves in double digits points as he finished with 21 points and 7 rebounds. Andrei Kirilenko had 16 points, 10 rebounds and 6 assists on the night while going 7 of 11 from the field. Joe Johnson led the Nets in scoring with 19 points on the night.
Brooklyn started the game hot from three point range with Keith Bogans opening the scoring with a three pointer. Deron Williams then scored a three followed by another by Bogans to put the Nets up 9-5 in the early going. Pekovic then scored six straight points for the Wolves, tying the score at 11. Johnson then hit another three to put Brooklyn up 18-15, but the Wolves remained within striking distance. After Brandon Roy nailed a jump shot to bring the Wolves within two, Brooklyn went on a 4-0 run to extend their lead to 29-23. The Nets held a 31-27 at the end of the period.
Two free throws by Andray Blatche extended the Nets lead to 34-27 in the early going of the second period as Minnesota failed to open their scoring for the first 1:49 of the period. Back to back field goals by MarShon Brooks put the Nets up 38-28, and Brooks hit a three pointer later in the period to extend the Nets lead to 47-35. Back to back three pointers by C.J. Watson and Johnson gave the Nets a 59-43 lead as the seemed to be in full control of the game. Mirza Teletovic scored another three point shot for the Nets to close the first half and put the Nets up 62-47.
The first three field goals of the Nets in the third period were all three point shots, and had them leading 71-49, their largest lead of the night. The Wolves did a good job of staying in the game and back to back three pointers by Kirilenko and Luke Ridnour had the Nets lead down to 79-63. A 6-0 run near the end of the period helped the Wolves cut the lead down to 86-75 at the end of the third period.
The Wolves started the final period on a 7-2 run and quickly had the Nets lead down to 6. Back to back three pointers by Chase Budinger and Alexey Shved had the Wolves within two points of the Nets, and a layup by Pekovic finally gave them a 96-94 lead with 4:39 left in the game to the shock of the Brooklyn fans.
Brooks scored two free throws to level the scores at that point, but Wolves went on an 11-0 run from there on, which carried all the way to the end of the game and gave them a 107-96 victory.
The Nets were unable to score in the final 4:13 of the game, missing six field goal attempts and committing three turnovers in the process.
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