Wolves record: 19-46
Alah Hahn/Newsday recap
Ryan Gomes tied his season high with 28 points and Sebastian Telfair added 22 for Minnesota, which fell to 2-13 without Al Jefferson after turning the ball over 19 times.
The Wolves kept the deficit between five and nine points for most of the last part of the fourth quarter, pulling within 92-87 on a pair of free throws by Craig Smith shortly before the 2-minute mark. But Chandler quickly followed with a floater in the lane, and Minnesota couldn’t come closer.
“They made a push. We made a push back. We just didn’t have enough in the tank,” said Mike Miller, who had 12 points on 3-for-8 shooting from the field.
The energy from the Wolves was so horrible to start, the first sub into the game is Mark Madsen…for Kevin Love. Energy, hustle and heart. Mark “Mad Dog” Madsen.
Sub number two…Brian Cardinal. This is what you pay your hard-earned money to see…lackluster play, turnovers, early double-digit deficits, Mark Madsen and Brian Cardinal.
The injury bug plagued the Wolves locker room as Kevin Ollie, Randy Foye, Rodney Carney, and Jason Collins all missed the game for various reasons.
Ollie had to fly home due to an illness his family, Carney is suffering from an abdominal contusion, Foy sprained his right ankle on Wednesday, and Collins caught the flu Friday morning.
Knicks head coach Mike D’Antoni started Nate Robinson at the point guard spot in place of Chris Duhon. On the opposite side, McHale was forced to use a smaller lineup at the opening tip with Kevin Love playing the center position and Craig Smith at power forward.
For the Knicks, who had all five starters in double figures — Nate Robinson had 25, including New York’s last eight points, and Wes Chandler had 24 — it was their first victory at Target Center since Nov. 26, 2003. The Wolves, who won here Wedesday, haven’t won consecutive games since Jan. 26…
Indeed, down by nine midway through the second quarter, the Wolves went on a 21-6 run through the first few moments of the third to lead 54-48.
It took most of the quarter for the Knicks to find any rhythm, but when they did, they took the lead. Robinson’s slashing drive started the 9-4 run to end the quarter with New York leading 74-69.
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