Mike Miller was more aggressive than he’s been for most games this season for Minnesota, finishing with 14 points and seven rebounds on 7-for-12 shooting and Kevin Ollie threw in 12 points against one of his many former teams. But Wallace and Anderson Varejao helped limit Jefferson’s damage underneath, doubling him occasionally and clogging the driving lanes to keep the Wolves from finding an offensive rhythm.
They were outscored 36-14 over the final 16 minutes of the game, thanks in part to a final flurry by James.
The team seems to have burned through the grace period of optimistic goodwill granted by Kevin McHale’s ascent (or, depending on how you view it, demotion) to Head Coach and that crushing but entertaining and well-fought loss to the Jazz. The bewildering blown layups and bricked jumpers of the losses to the Spurs and Lakers gave way, on Monday, to a hapless, defeated effort against the floundering Sacramento Kings–an unwelcome return to Wittman-era malaise. Not only are the Wolves now missing even relatively easy shots at a staggering rate (in the last four games they’ve shot: 41%, 36%, 42%, 41%), they’ve also returned to their nasty habit of forgetting to play defense for important stretches of the game–their soft pick and roll defense and slow rotations allowing open outside shots; their poor inside help giving free reign to penetrating guards.
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