Nets Come Back To Down Sinking Timberwolves
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. – Vince Carter and Richard Jefferson each scored 21 points, and the Nets beat the Minnesota Timberwolves 86-82 last night for their seventh straight victory.
The Nets (38-29) improved to a sea son-best 11 games over .500 and have won 15 of their last 18 home games. They snapped a four game losing streak against Minnesota and handed the Timberwolves their 13th loss in their last 14 road games.
Kevin Garnett led Minnesota (28-40) with 24 points but scored just nine in the second half.
Clifford Robinson made two 3-pointers down the stretch, both from the left wing, to help hold off the Timberwolves. The second came with 53 seconds remaining and gave the Nets an 83-79 lead.
Before that, Carter had given the Nets an 80-75 lead with two free throws with 1:25 left, but Jason Kidd failed to connect with Jefferson on an alley-oop pass and fouled Marcus Banks. Banks made the free throws and then made two more to bring Minnesota within a point with 1:03 remaining before Robinson’s 3-pointer.
Banks and Mark Blount finished with 18 points apiece for Minnesota.
Kidd sparked the Nets earlier in the fourth quarter, sinking a 3-pointer from the top of the key and adding two foul shots in a 9-0 run that gave New Jersey a 73-70 lead
The Nets, who played from behind for most of the first three quarters, erased a 10-point Minnesota halftime lead with an 11-0 run in the first 4:27 of the third quarter. The Nets led by as many as four in the quarter, but Minnesota regained the lead by a basket at the end of the period and led 70-64 early in the fourth on Ricky Davis’ 3-pointer.
Too often this season, Minnesota has played well early and fallen apart late. The Timberwolves ran out to a ninepoint lead after one quarter and later extended it to 44-28 in the second quarter after a 15-5 run punctuated by a dunk by Justin Reed.
The Nets, meanwhile, struggled from the field in the first two quarters when Jefferson and Carter weren’t putting on dunking shows. Carter had two emphatic slams from the left wing, and Jefferson had back-to-back acrobatic dunks late in the second quarter when the Nets cut the deficit to 50-40 by halftime.
The Nets finished the half shooting 14-for-37 (38%), but were just 9-for-32 (28%) on non-dunks.
