Ricky Rubio Still the Real Deal in Minnesota Timberwolves' Win over Spurs
The Minnesota Timberwolves are for real, folks. The young squad played tough, effective defense Friday night to hold San Antonio to only 79 points in the Target Center. Minnesota finished the game with 87, bringing its record to 9-10. Kevin Love scored 18 points and grabbed 16 rebounds, while rookie sensation Ricky Rubio matched Love's point total and dished out 10 assists.
Breaking out of his shooting slump in an important game against the Spurs, Rubio proved one thing: he was worth the wait, ladies and gentlemen.
Michael Beasley and Martell Webster returned to the floor after being sidelined due to injuries. Beasley tallied seven points and four rebounds, and Webster landed a nice three in his first game back since undergoing back surgery in September.
The teams exchanged leads throughout the contest, but the Timberwolves never lost focus against their veteran opponents.
“Our guys are really locked in,” Adelman commented postgame. “They’re really trying to do what we ask them to do defensively. We talked about winning close games against good teams, you’ve got to be solid. You’ve got to be disciplined and follow the game plan.”
It's no secret that this team gained a reputation of playing poor second-half ball, but this season things are different. There is a new determination on the floor. A new confidence.
Love weighed in:
“We can get down by 3-4-5 points; we can be down by double-digits, it doesn’t matter,” he said. “We continue to keep getting better in second halves of games. We’ve got to continue to keep getting better.”
When Minnesota center Darko Milicic suddenly came down with the flu, coach Rick Adelman inserted Nikola Pekovich into the lineup for extended playing time.
It was the right decision.
The 26-year-old knocked down 14 points in 33 minutes of play, and he assisted Love under the basket, grabbing 10 boards of his own on the night. Given the daunting task of guarding Tim Duncan, Pekovich accepted. Although he received five fouls, he held the veteran scorer to only 2-for-12 from the field.
“I’m just trying to help our team every time,” Pekovic said.
San Antonio's Tony Parker attempted to save his team from drowning. He did tally 20 points in the contest, but he shot less than 50 percent from the field and missed several shots in the fourth quarter.
Minnesota hopes to defeat the LA Lakers on Sunday to establish a .500 record. Tipoff is set for 7 PM ET.
