The dream of the Wolves to finally beat the Spurs went unfulfilled this time as well as they faced yet another defeat , continuing a string that extends all the way back to the 3rd of January , 2007.
The San Antonio Spurs rolled into Target Center with the best record in the league (13 – 1), and banged the Minnesota Timberwolves (4 – 12) 113-109 in the presence of 13,117 Minnesota fans.
Prominent Players
Manu Ginobili played one of his best game in the Spurs uniform; leading the team with 26 points, 6 assists, and 6 rebounds. Richard Jefferson added 19 points and Tony Parker 18 for the Spurs.
The Timberwolves lost the game despite another fantastic performance from Kevin Love, who had 32 points and 22 rebounds. Darko Milicic (22 points), Wes Johnson (15 points), and Michael Beasley (11 points) joined Love in double
figures as well.
Game Story
The Wolves entered the court enthusiastically and dominated the first quarter of the game by 15 points (33 – 18).
The Spurs looked lazy early in the game, taking the Wolves a little too lightly, shooting just 32.6 % in the first half and missing 12 of their 13 3-pointers.
Love and Milicic played the game around the court incredibly, combining for 29 points and 18 rebounds in the first half as the Wolves built an 18-point lead.
After a horrid shooting start to the game, the Spurs hit six 3-pointers in the fourth quarter of the game. With 16.2 seconds left in the game, Gary Neal hit three free throws (3 points) to tie it at 106.
Bonner’s 3-pointer and McDyess’s free throws turned down the game into the thirteenth victory for Spurs (13 – 1) in the season.
Turning Points
The Spurs missed 17 of their first 19 3-pointers, but Matt Bonner's 3 from the elbow gave them their first lead of the game with 49 seconds to go in overtime.
Gary Neal was fouled on a 3-pointer with 16.2 seconds left in the fourth quarter, he managed 3 points of three free throws to tie the game
Poor performance
It was not Beasley’s game, he had an off night with 11 points and nine boards on 5 for 12 shooting and he committed three expensive turnovers in the crucial fourth quarter and overtime.
Quotable
"I thought there was no chance we were going to win it," "We were down 20, nothing was falling, we weren’t playing with the kind of aggressiveness and energy that you need to overcome a deficit like that. I thought it was going
to be a loss. Then slowly, very slowly, we started to recover," said Ginobili.
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