The Minnesota Timberwolves fell to the Cleveland Cavaliers by the score of 97-86 Wednesday night in front of 15,524 fans at the Target Center. Cavaliers forward Lebron James stole the show, scoring a game-high 45 points on a ridiculous 17-26 from the field. Of those 17 baskets, six of them were of the three-point variety. In addition to Lebron’s tremendous night from the floor, he also chipped in with eight rebounds, five assists, three steals and two blocks. Minnesota forward Al Jefferson did his best to keep Minnesota within reach, scoring a season-high 30 points to go along with eight rebounds. The Wolves had three other players finish in double figures, Walker (13), Green (13) and McCants (11). Minnesota heads to Denver next for a contest against the Denver Nuggets on Friday night at 8 pm. Minnesota heads into the game with a record of 1-8, Denver stands at 8-3, good for first place in the Midwest Division.
Category: Minnesota T-Wolves Blog
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Timberwolves have just two players averaging double-figures in scoring
The Wolves have two players averaging double figures in scoring, led by Al Jefferson’s 19.5 ppg (31st in the league) followed closely by Rashad McCants’s 17.
Minnesota has a host of other players right on the cusp of averaging double figures: Gomes (9.9), Buckner (9.0), Smith (8.6), Telfair (8.4), Ratliff (8.2) and Walker (8.1). Sebastian Telfair ranks first on the team in assists (4.6), also good for 36th in the league. The Wolves leading rebounder is third year forward Al Jefferson. Big Al averages 11.1 rpg which ranks him 11th in the league. Wolves rookie Corey Brewer, who made his first regular season start last Saturday vs. New Orleans, ranks 15th in the league in scoring amongst rookies averaging 4.8 ppg. Brewer also ranks 8th in rookie rebounding (3.9), fifth in three point shooting (4-12, 33%), second in free-throw shooting (89%) and eighth in minutes per game (19.6).
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Al Jefferson starting season extremely strong
Through five games, Al Jefferson is leading the Wolves with averages of 19.6 points (49.4% FG%) and 12.4 rebounds per game. He has registered point/rebound double-doubles in all five contests. Rashad McCants’ 15.0 ppg ranks second on the Wolves in scoring. The third-year pro is shooting the ball at a 51.1% clip from the field, including 50% (8-for-16) from the three-point line. Center Theo Ratliff is averaging a team-best 3.5 blocks per game. The veteran from the University of Wyoming swatted a season-high six blocks against Sacramento on Saturday night. Sebastian Telfair is leading the Wolves with 4.6 assists per game.
Through the first five games, Minnesota center Theo Ratliff leads the league in blocks per game, averaging 3.5 per game. Wolves Forward Al Jefferson ranks eighth in the league in rebounds per game (12.4). Third-year guard Rashad McCants ranks amongst the league leaders in three-point shooting, connecting from long range 50% (8-16) of the time. Wolves 2006-07 second-round draft pick Craig Smith ranks 17th in the NBA in field-goal shooting percentage at 55%.
A walk around Knicks-Wolves pregame
Pregame –
Isiah Thomas talks for five minutes or so, mainly questions about Zach Randolph, Eddy Curry. He also reiterates his “whoever is playing the best” mantra, which basically means he plans on rewarding good play which could lead to wins. He also addresses the fact that Al Sharpton canceled his protest.
Randy Wittman, who some of you may or may not know is a former teammate of Isiah Thomas from their days at Indiana. He does his pregame business in a much more informal setting, sitting on the scorer’s table while his team shoots around. He says he is there for his friend and that famous smile needs to return.
After the meet and greet with a few reporters, I relate to him my autograph story about how in the late 1980s and early 1990s, I used to mail away cards to get autographed and I have his from when he played with the Pacers. I said, I often wondered if they were legitimate or if some intern signed them and he says that I’ll have to show him the card.
As this informal conversation is happening, Antoine Walker is shooting and I must say he looks kind of thinner, which kind of contradicts Pat Riley’s contention that he wasn’t in shape. (Of course I could be wrong as I’m not a fitness guru).