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 Rubio made 9 of 17 shots and grabbed his 10th board with 9:14 to play in the game, giving his home fans something to cheer about in a long, frustrating season. Alexey Shved broke out of a big slump to score 16 points and J.J. Barea added 17 points for the Wolves, who hit 12 3-pointers.
Stephen Jackson had 14 points and Danny Green 10 for the Spurs, who left Tim Duncan and Kawhi Leonard at home to rest after they throttled Oklahoma City on Monday night. San Antonio turned the ball over 17 times, leading to 30 points for Minnesota, and shot just 35.4 percent.
A season that started with high expectations quickly unraveled for the Wolves thanks to a bevy of injuries. They are 7-25 since Kevin Love broke his right hand for the second time on Jan. 8. One of the few bright spots during this awful stretch has been Rubio's gradual return from a torn knee ligament last March.
He's really turned it on over the last month, and he put an exclamation point on his return against the Spurs.
Somehow, Minnesota managed to shirk several slumps that set while the team was worn down from playing short-handed. They have been the worst shooting team in the league for most of the season, including just 29.3 percent from 3-point range entering the game. But they hit five of their first six shots from long distance and got a boost from the best game for Shved in weeks.
Shved shot better than 28 percent in just two of his previous 10 games, but was 5 for 6 in the first half to help the Wolves take a 15-point lead.
Rubio punctuated the night with a behind-the-back dribble and layup in the fourth, bringing Wolves fans to their feet.
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One night after beating the powerful Thunder handily at home, the Spurs were blown out for the second time in the last three games. Portland beat them by 30 on March 8.
The game was as notable for who wasn't playing as who was.
Duncan and Leonard stayed back in San Antonio for the second half of a back-to-back with what the team called sore left knees. But coach Gregg Popovich has been known to rest players, especially older veterans like Duncan on back-to-backs. Point guard Tony Parker is also out for another few weeks with a sprained left ankle, so the Spurs started Jackson, Matt Bonner and Cory Joseph in their places.
They'll get no sympathy from the Timberwolves, who have been playing with nine healthy players for the last two weeks. Love, Chase Budinger (knee), Andrei Kirilenko (calf), Nikola Pekovic (abdomen) and Brandon Roy (knees) all were unavailable on Tuesday night against the team with the best record in the West.
NOTES: The Wolves made just 7 of 18 free throws (38.9 percent). ... Nando De Colo was the only other Spur in double figures with 13 points. ... Luke Ridnour scored 14 points for Minnesota and Shved had seven assists.
[Associated
Press; By JON KRAWCZYNSKI]
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