There were a lot of storylines entering the Minnesota Timberwolves’ game at New Orleans Friday night. At the final buzzer though, the ending was a familiar one.
Minnesota lost its second game in a row, falling 89-98 to the Hornets at New Orleans Arena. The Wolves fell to 2-17 on the season, while the Hornets stopped a two-game slide to improve to 8-11.
Once again, the third quarter was Minnesota’s undoing. The Wolves led by 11 toward the end of the first half before the Hornets went on a 9-0 run to make the halftime score 49-47 in favor of Minnesota.
The Wolves were then outscored 16-28 in the third, essentially sealing the win for New Orleans. On the season, Minnesota has been outscored 530-428 in the third quarter. The Wolves get outscored by an average of 5.36 points in the third and have only outscored their opponents in that period in three games – making it their worst quarter.
Minnesota was bolstered by the news that forward Kevin Love – who broke his hand in the preseason – would make his season debut Friday. Love picked up where he left off last season, scoring 11 points and grabbing 11 rebounds for a double-double off the bench. Al Jefferson chipped in his own double-double, getting the game high in points and rebounds (20 points, 14 rebounds).
However, New Orleans countered with its own comeback star – All Star guard Chris Paul returned after missing eight games to injury. Paul was too much for Minnesota, scoring 16 to go along with a game-high 15 assists and eight steals.
All of the Hornets starters scored in double figures with the exception of Peja Stojakovic, who had eight points. David West and Emeka Okafor both had 17 points, while Devin Brown led the team with 19.
Minnesota got another strong game from Ryan Gomes, who had 15 points and seven rebounds. Jonny Flynn was a non-factor, scoring just six points on 2-of-8 shooting from the field. Wayne Ellington got 30 minutes of playing time and responded by going 5-7 from the field, finishing with 12 points.
Jefferson’s game ended much better than his last trip to New Orleans Arena. Last February, Jefferson tore his ACL at the end of a loss to the Hornets and was lost for the year. That began a 7-25 slide for Minnesota to end the season.
The Wolves return home today to face the Utah Jazz at the Target Center. Division rival Utah (11-7) is on a four-game winning streak and is 8-2 in its last 10 games. This will be the first time this season the teams meet. The Jazz won the season series last season three games to one.
Utah has five players averaging double figures in scoring, led by Carlos Boozer’s 20.1 points per game. Deron Williams isn’t far behind, averaging 19.7 points per game. Boozer also grabs 10.9 rebounds per game to lead the Jazz.
Minnesota got one step closer to becoming the worst team in the NBA after New Jersey got its first win of the season to improve to 1-18.
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