{"id":231254,"date":"2009-10-29T05:25:03","date_gmt":"2009-10-29T05:25:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/vip.local\/2009\/10\/29\/wolves-95-nets-93\/"},"modified":"2022-01-09T12:49:59","modified_gmt":"2022-01-09T16:49:59","slug":"wolves-95-nets-93","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thesportsdaily.com\/news\/wolves-95-nets-93\/","title":{"rendered":"Wolves 95, Nets 93"},"content":{"rendered":"
Wolves record: 1-0<\/p>\n
Box Score<\/a><\/p>\n Click here<\/a> for video of Wilkins’ game-winning buzzer beater.<\/p>\n Premature game notes<\/a> (via Memyworld)<\/a><\/p>\n Jonny Flynn thrilled the Timberwolves with a dynamite Opening Night performance, guiding one of the largest comebacks in Minnesota history and outplaying Nets veteran Devin Harris to earn a shocking 95-93 victory over New Jersey at Target Center. Flynn scored 11 points during Minnesota’s 24-6 run over the final six minutes, and though his driving layup on the game’s final possession rolled out, teammate Damien Wilkins grabbed the loose ball and banked in a 10-foot shot as time expired, shocking a New Jersey team that blew a 19-point second-half lead.<\/em><\/p>\n “He showed me he has a lot of heart,” Wilkins said of his rookie teammate, who led the Timberwolves with 18 points. “Jonny Flynn, he’s a winner.”<\/em><\/p>\n So is his team, which won its season opener for the eighth time in nine seasons — this one perhaps the most improbable of all. New Jersey capitalized on its size advantage inside to hold Minnesota to 36.6 percent shooting on the night and build a 72-53 lead midway through the third quarter. The Nets still led by 16, 87-71, with seven minutes to play. <\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n With Rubio playing over in Spain, Flynn was relentless in taking the ball to the basket in the final period. He either scored on his drives to the hoop or wound up at the foul line, where he made 8 of 10 free throws in the game.<\/em><\/p>\n “Can’t be scared of anything,” said Flynn, who is generously listed at 6-foot. “Especially a little guy like me. All we have is a big heart.”<\/em><\/p>\n Devin Harris had a rough shooting night for the Nets. He managed just 14 points on 4 for 13 shooting to go with eight assists and six rebounds.<\/em><\/p>\n The Nets led by 19 points midway through the third quarter, with the 7-foot Lopez bullying the smaller Timberwolves on the low block.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n<\/div>\n Those final seven minutes changed everything, after Rambis turned to a unit down the stretch that featured Flynn, Brewer, Jefferson and Wayne Ellington and that defended like no other combination Rambis had tried until then.<\/em><\/p>\n The only reason Wilkins was in the game at the end was because Brian Cardinal had to come out after his grotesquely dislocated a finger late in the game. Cardinal was the only player to make a three-pointer in a game when the Nets went 0-for-8 and the Wolves 1-for-7.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n\u201cI was very proud of Al coming in and fighting through his Achilles problem,\u201d Wolves coach Kurt Rambis said. \u201cPutting him in the game late in the fourth quarter, I told him that he had to put the team on his back and start carrying them. The team responded.\u201d<\/em><\/div>\n<\/div>\n