Day: February 10, 2008

Wolves visit Nets on Tuesday

The Wolves will play their first road game of February Tuesday night, traveling to the Meadowlands to take on Jason Kidd and the New Jersey Nets.

Minnesota defeated the Nets in dramatic fashion back on Jan. 27 at the Target Center, edging the Nets 98-95. Al Jefferson put home four late free throws and Vince Carter’s three-point attempt to tie at the buzzer rimmed out, helping the Wolves claim their eighth victory of the season. Al Jefferson poured in a career-high 40 points and grabbed 19 rebounds, helping the Wolves rally from a seven-point deficit in the final 1:19. Rashad McCants scored 16 points and Sebastian Telfair added 12 for Minnesota.

The Wolves have gone 6-2 in the teams’ past eight meetings, pulling ahead 19-16 in the all-time series.

Over the last 12, Minnesota is averaging just 87.6 ppg but is holding the Nets to 87.8 ppg.

Meanwhile, New Jersey is 12-5 at home, with the Wolves’ lone victory in their past seven visits a 96-75 decision ion March 26, 2005. New Jersey comes into Tuesday night’s game having lost 12 out of their last 15 games and lay claim to the third place in the Eastern Conference’s Atlantic Division.

The Wolves will return home to the Target Center where they will face the Los Angeles Lakers Wednesday night at 7 PM.

Balanced Raptors smoke T-Wolves

After winning their previous four at the Target Center, Minnesota dropped it’s third straight, losing to the Toronto Raptors Sunday night, 105-82.   Andrea Bargnani led a balanced attack for Toronto, scoring 16 points and hauling in six rebounds.   Four other Raptors were in double figures and both Jose Calderon and T.J. Ford each had 10+ assists.

Sunday evening’s contest started on the right foot for both teams, each team connecting on over 50% of their shots in the opening stanza.  Toronto nudged ahead after one, 29-25.   Guard Marko Jaric had a strong quarter for the Wolves, tallying nine points on 4-4 shooting.  The tight play continued into the second with both teams continuing their superb shooting.  Toronto pulled ahead 39-27 thanks to a 10-2 run to start the quarter.  The Wolves answered, using a 15-4 run to tie the game at 45 before Toronto’s Jose Calderon connected on back-to-back three-pointers to pull Toronto head by four, 51-47 at half.  Things would turn south for the Wolves in a hurry, starting with a 12-4 Toronto run to start the third to pull the Raptors ahead 63-51 just four minutes into the quarter.

The score continued to go in the wrong direction for the Wolves; Toronto bumping their lead to as many as 18 points, eventually taking a 77-61 lead into the final quarter.  Toronto continued their hot-shooting into the fourth, leading by as many as 26 before eventually defeating the Wolves by a final of 105-82.  Toronto shot 50.6% from the field for the game and dished out 31 assists on their 41 made baskets.

Pacing the Wolves efforts was once again Big Al Jefferson.  Big Al finished with a game-high 18 points and nine rebounds.  Marko Jaric was the lone Wolf to join Big Al in double figures, scoring 11 points, only two coming after his nine-point first quarter.  Sebastian Telfair led the Wolves with eight assists.  The Wolves will look to end their three-game losing streak tomorrow night when they head to New Jersey to close out their season-series with the Nets.  Tip off is set for 6:30 PM.

Rasheed Wallace named All-Star replacement for KG

Detroit Pistons forward Rasheed Wallace has been named by NBA Commissioner David Stern to replace injured East All-Star Kevin Garnett (abdominal muscle strain) of the Boston Celtics for the 2008 NBA All-Star Game on Sunday, Feb. 17 in New Orleans.

Wallace will be making his fourth NBA All-Star appearance. East All-Star head coach Doc Rivers will determine which player on his roster will replace Garnett in the starting line-up.

The NBA All-Star Game on Sunday, Feb. 17, will air live on TNT and ESPN Radio beginning at 8 p.m. EST.

Mavericks re-assign Maurice Ager to D-League

The Dallas Mavericks announced today that they have re-assigned guard Maurice Ager to the Tulsa 66ers of the NBA Development League.

Ager (6-5, 202) has seen action in 12 games this season, starting three. He averages of 1.3 points and 0.3 rebounds in 6.5 minutes per game. His best game came vs. San Antonio (11/5), when he finished with a season-high 5 points, 2 rebounds and a career-high 3 assists.

Previously, Ager, who was drafted by Dallas with the 28th pick of the 2006 draft, was assigned to the D-League on Dec. 17. In eight games with the 66ers, he averaged 17.4 points and 2.3 assists in 33.4 minutes per game before being recalled on Jan. 6.

The 66ers host Los Angeles on Feb. 14 before breaking for All-Star Weekend.