Wolves record: 20-48
Paul capped a 26-point, 10-assist, five-steal performance by setting up West’s dunk with 12.6 seconds left that gave the New Orleans Hornets a 94-93 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Wednesday night.
“When it gets to those types of situations, D-West is a guy just like myself, we want the ball,” Paul said. “We know the team is counting on us.”
Minnesota’s Randy Foye missed a 17-foot jumper as time expired, allowing New Orleans to escape with the victory. But it was an officials’ review of a long-range shot Foye made earlier in the fourth quarter that also affected the outcome. The shot was initially ruled a 3, but the Wolves had a point taken off the board after a replay review during a timeout a few minutes later.
The Timberwolves fell prey at times to a quicker New Orleans frontcourt and a ball that didn’t make it down the net for much of the evening. But they offered a hearty fight.
Foye started in his usual shooting-guard spot Wednesday one night after he left AT&T Center limping noticeably after he was kicked in the knee in Tuesday’s game. He played nearly 41 minutes, made four of 12 shots and scored 11 assists. He and Sebastian Telfair had nine fouls combined attempting to defend Paul all night.
Love’s 23-point, 11-rebound night was his second consecutive double-double, his fourth in six games and his 22nd this season. It also was the second consecutive night he nearly vanished in the first half. On Tuesday, he had 14 of his 19 rebounds and all of his 17 points after halftime. On Wednesday, he had eight of those rebounds and 16 of those points after halftime. “I have to find that a little earlier,” he said.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
