02/24/2010 - 16:34
Wolves Get Road Win
by
Matt Martino
The Minnesota Timberwolves tallied their fifth road victory of the season, holding off the Miami Heat 91-88 on Tuesday night.
Al Jefferson logged 26 minutes but still managed to chip in 10 points, 11 rebounds, and two blocks.
Al pulls down a board during the Wolves win over Miami (Getty Images). |
No. 25 and the rest of the Minnesota’s big men shut down the paint Tuesday night, holding the Dwyane Wade-less Heat to a season-low 15 points in the first quarter.
Minnesota led the majority of the game and accumulated a 17-point lead in the second quarter and a 10-point advantage with three minutes remaining. They then withstood a 10-1 Miami run and prevailed after Daequan Cook's leaning three-pointer missed at the buzzer.
Big Al did the majority of his work on the defensive boards where he pulled down 10 of his 11 rebounds. Al spread his scoring and rebounding out relatively evenly, though the third quarter was his best.
He pulled down two defensive boards in each of the first two quarters, scoring two points in the first and four more in the second. In the third, No. 25 grabbed six defensive boards and scored four more points, before taking a seat on the bench with the Wolves comfortably in front.
He reentered the game in the final minutes after the Heat trimmed the margin to three and helped Minnesota preserve a victory.
"We did enough good things tonight to get a win," coach Kurt Rambis said. "This is a microcosm of how we've been all year. We play well in pockets."
NEXT UP
Minnesota (14-44) plays the second half of back-to-back Southwest road games when they face the Atlanta Hawks (35-20) tonight.
Earlier this season, Al tallied 17 points and 10 rebounds during the teams' first matchup.
Tip-off of tonight's game is scheduled for 6 p.m. CST and it can be seen on FSN North.
RELATED STORIES
Streak ends at six: Wolves win, 91-89 at Miami (Minneapolis Star-Tribune, February 23, 2010)
http://www.startribune.com/blogs/On_the_Wolves.html
Love helps Wolves take advantage of Wade's injury to tip Heat (AP, February 23, 2010)
http://scores.espn.go.com/nba/recap?gameId=300223014
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