Wolves 102, Raptors 110 E-mail
Written by SG   
Wednesday, 11 February 2009 00:40

 

Wolves record: 17-34

Box Score

 

Stephen Litel/MinnesotaSCORE posted notes throughout the game

 

Doug Smith/Toronto Star recap

 

The season marches on without big Al and the Wolves will forge ahead tonight with this starting lineup:

Ryan Gomes at power forward, Mike Miller at small forward, Kevin Love at center, Randy Foye and Sebastian Telfair at guards.

 

Randy Foye had a career-high 33 points and eight rebounds for the Wolves, who played the first game of the rest of the season without center Al Jefferson. And that future looks grim.

Jermaine O'Neal had 22 points and eight rebounds and Joey Graham scored 24 for the Raptors, who rallied from 13 down in the third quarter in their third straight game without Bosh.

 

With Jefferson and Craig Smith (cracked rib) both out, Wolves coach Kevin McHale moved rookie forward Kevin Love into Jefferson's starting center spot, pushed Ryan Gomes down a spot to power forward and inserted Mike Miller into the starting lineup's small forward spot.

It's a configuration that McHale says will change in the season's final two-plus months, depending on nightly matchups and when Smith returns from his injury.

The Wolves trailed by 10 points in the first half, led by as many as 13 in the third quarter and still were ahead by seven heading into the final quarter before the Raptors put together two bursts -- one that got them back briefly into the lead and another than thrust them into a 98-91 lead with 3 minutes, 22 seconds left.

 

7 Wolves' losses in their past eight games after winning 12 of 16.

15-11 points and rebounds for Kevin Love in 36 minutes

 

Jason Collins played his first minutes under Kevin McHale, his first minutes since the infamous December 6 loss to the Clippers. He played nine minutes, and finished with three rebounds. After the game, McHale noted that he would have to start playing his backup big men more in Al Jefferson's absence.

 

The Raptors, however, were determined to attack Love and the basket with O'Neal.

"Kevin Love is going to be a great player," Toronto coach Jay Triano said. "But I didn't know how he was going to be able to handle Jermaine."

 

Minnesota Timberwolves guard Rashad McCants missed the game Tuesday night against Toronto because of illness.

McCants was at the shootaround on Tuesday morning, but fell sick in the afternoon and was unable to attend the game.

< Prev   Next >
 

Add comment


Security code
Refresh

TWB Staff

College Wolf - Columnist/Co-Founder
Mike Reynolds - Columnist
Derek Hanson - Webmaster

Forum Latest

Re:2010 FIBA World Championships (Team USA)
by College Wolf 2010/09/02 23:11
Re:2010 FIBA World Championships (Team USA)
by 9Deuce 2010/09/02 22:00
Re:2010 FIBA World Championships (Team USA)
by College Wolf 2010/09/02 11:56
Re:2010 FIBA World Championships (Team USA)
by 9Deuce 2010/09/01 22:14
Re:2010 FIBA World Championships (Team USA)
by College Wolf 2010/09/01 21:26

About Bloguin

Bloguin is the revolutionary blog network specifically focused on helping bloggers get the most out of their websites. We're currently working on building a large network of online communities and hope to expand our blogging coverage to include a wide range of topics.

Advertisers

The Bloguin Network allows advertisers to promote their products and services to our ever-growing number of visitors. We offer both site-specific ad placements as well as the ability to run a network-wide campaign. If you're interested in working with Bloguin to meet your advertising needs, please contact us.

Bloggers Wanted

The Bloguin Network is always looking to expand. We're specifically looking for blogs in the sports, entertainment, and video games field, but are open to adding any type of quality site.. If you're a blogger and interested in joining our network, please fill out our application form.

The Bloguin Login

The Bloguin Login gives you full access to everything our network has to offer. Your name and password will work for each and every one of our sites. Signing up is simple, and will allow you to post in all our forums, create member blogs, and access other cool features! What are you waiting for? Create an Account!