T-Wolves daily: Close loss to Cavs
Saturday Night's Recap
Minnesota 96, Cleveland 99
The Timberwolves returned home to Target Center to complete their third back-to-back set of the season. It was a back-and-forth contest that saw eight lead changes and seven ties, but the Hornets used late-game heroics to take the game from the Wolves 99-96. Minnesota was down three when Mike James spotted up from long-distance and knocked down a three-pointer with about three seconds remaining to tie the score at 96. Peja Stojakovic responded with a three of his own and with less than a second remaining, Minnesota was unable to tie the score. Kevin Garnett had 22 points and 17 rebounds while Troy Hudson scored 20 points in 22 minutes off the bench.
On Deck
Minnesota vs. New York Knicks
Target Center -- Nov. 22 at 7:00 p.m.
The New York Knicks travel to the Twin Cities on Wednesday for their first meeting of the season with the Timberwolves. Minnesota swept the season series in 2005-06 and, overall, has won eight of the last 10 meetings between the clubs. The Knicks hold a 20-13 overall advantage in the series, but the teams have split 16 games played at Target Center. On the year, New York is 4-7 headed into a contest with the Houston Rockets tonight and have split their last four games.
Doubling it Up
Wolves rookie Craig Smith delivered the first double-double of his career against the Cavaliers on Friday night. Smith, a second-round pick out of Boston College, scored 12 points on 5-9 field goal shooting (plus going 2-2 from the free throw line) and snagged 10 boards in 27 minutes of action. He followed that performance with a near double-double against the Hornets. His 8 points and 10 rebounds left him one bucket shy of back-to-back double-doubles.
15 Days Without a Miss
As noted last week, Mike James has been hot at the free-throw line this year. He's hit his last 23 attempts from the line and it's been more than two weeks since his last miss. Since missing a free throw in the fourth quarter of a Nov. 3 win at Denver, James has knocked down all of his charity shots. On the season, he's hitting 92.9 percent (26-28) of his shots from the line
Friday Night's Recap
Minnesota 76, Cleveland 98
Minnesota held the lead at the half against LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers, but James proved to be too much in the second half as the Cavaliers prevailed with a 92-76 victory. Kevin Garnet and the Timberwolves were up 45-42 at the half, but couldn't hold off James, who finished with 37 points, nine rebounds and six assists. KG had a double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds and Craig Smith notched a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds in 27 minutes off the bench.
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