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 Two days after an inexcusable home loss to the slumping Knicks,
the Wolves came out on fire Friday, taking a big early lead en route
to a 114-101 victory over the Detroit Pistons at Target Center that
kept them five games out of eighth place in the Western Conference.
"We learned from the other night," said guard Kevin Martin, who
scored 11 of his 24 points in the first quarter as the Wolves jumped
out to an 18 point lead. "And coach told us in practice we'd better
come out with energy because you can't let a team get rolling."
On Wednesday that's exactly what happened. The Wolves came out flat,
allowed the Knicks to find a rhythm and never really found one
themselves. No so Friday. Martin and forward Kevin Love — who scored
14 of his 28 points in the first 12 minutes — pushed the Wolves to
an early 21-4 run that turned a one-point Wolves lead into an
18-point bulge.
"We came out flat and they came out and jumped on us," Monroe said.
"That's what happens when those two things happen. Especially when
you play a team at home. That's really it. We came out flat."
The Wolves (31-30) won for the seventh time in nine games, staying
within shouting distance of a playoff spot in the Western
Conference. Love also had 14 rebounds and five assists. Center
Nikola Pekovic had 17 points and nine rebounds and point guard Ricky
Rubio had 11 points, nine assists and eight rebounds. The Wolves
shot 45.1 percent and had edges on second-chance points (25-17) and
at the free throw line (26-21).
Minnesota led by 18 after one quarter, by 21 at the half and by 28
entering the fourth quarter. That was more than enough to withstand
a 17-point fourth quarter blitz from backup Pistons guard Will
Bynum. Detroit also got 20 points and 15 rebounds from forward Greg
Monroe and 17 points from guard Brandon Jennings. But much of that
damage came against the Wolves' bench in the first half of the
fourth quarter.
"Today I think we did a really good job, except for six, seven
minutes," Rubio said. "So we have to be very happy how we played
today. Of course it wasn't perfect, but we beat Detroit."
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Detroit (24-38), still in the Eastern Conference playoff picture,
lost for the sixth time in seven games.
"When you don't guard you get so demoralized by watching them keep
scoring," Detroit coach John Loyer said. "Some nights your offense
dictates your defense. Tonight our lack of defense dictated our
offense."
The Wolves had offense to burn for much of the night.
"I liked the way we moved the ball, the way we made hard cuts,"
Wolves coach Rick Adelman said. "It was a nice effort after the
other night."
It was about time. With time growing short and a lot of ground to
make up, the Wolves can't afford many more clunkers like Wednesday's
loss.
"We just wanted to come out with more energy," Love said. "We felt
we did that. We jumped on 'em early. We played a good 3 ½ quarters."
NOTES: At halftime of Monday's game with the Knicks, New York center
Tyson Chandler was asked by New York TV about how to play Kevin
Love. "Go at 'em," Chandler said. "Can't play D." Friday morning,
Love was asked about those comments. "(To heck with) him," Love said
profanely. "I don't give a (darn)." This was said slightly
sarcastically, as Chandler and Love are friends. ... Wolves G Ricky
Rubio and F Corey Brewer had combined for 242 steals entering
Friday's game, making them the most prolific teammates in the NBA at
that stat. ... As proof of how mismatched the two conferences are,
Detroit came into Friday's game 13 games under . 500, having lost
five of six games. And they were closer to a playoff spot than the
Wolves. Detroit was three games behind No. 8 Atlanta in the East,
while the Wolves were five games out of eighth place in the West.
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