Spurs go cold late in fourth quarter, fall to Timberwolves

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The San Antonio Spurs were trying to correct their road woes Friday in Minnesota, but the woes continued as the Spurs went cold in the fourth KLquarter to lose to the Timberwolves 87-79, after the Wolves ended the game on a 10-0 run.

The Spurs and Wolves battled through four straight quarters, and then with 3:33 remaining, and the Spurs trailing, Gary Neal made a big three to give the Spurs the lead. The Spurs would go on to miss seven straight shots and shoot 5-of-15 in the fourth quarter as Kevin Love’s 18 points and 16 rebounds, along with Ricky Rubio’s 18 points and 10 assists finished off the Spurs.

Early on it looked like the Spurs were in control as Richard Jefferson kicked the Spurs off with a 10-2 run to start the game. Jefferson had 10 of the Spurs’ 22 first quarter points as the Spurs lead the Wolves 22-21 after one. Keep in mind, Jefferson never scored again through the rest of the game.

Tiago Splitter and Matt Bonner came off the bench to put some nice minutes in the second quarter as they combined for 14 points. The Wolves were able to take the lead from the Spurs with four minutes remaining in the second quarter, but the Spurs went into halftime with a slim 42-41 lead.

 

Nikola Pekovic, yes Nikola Pekovic, made a name for himself in the third quarter as he started the Wolves off with a 8-2 run, Pekovic poured 10 of his 14 points in the second half. In the third quarter, Splitter scored his 10th point, which extended his streak to six straight double-digit games, and Bonner also scored his 10th point, which made him have back-to-back double-digit scoring efforts. The Wolves and Spurs went into the final quarter tied at 64.

Tony Parker scored seven of his team high 20 points in the fourth quarter, but Rubio and Love were too much in the end.

With the loss, the Spurs fall to 12-8 on the season, their road record is still sluggish as the team is now 2-7 on the road. The Spurs will stay in Minnesota for the night and fly to Dallas on Saturday to face the Mavericks on Sunday.

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Paul is an editor, writer and content manager for ProjectSpurs.com (@ProjectSpurs) and AnalyzingTheLeague.com (@ATLeague_NBA). Paul is also the host of the Spurscast (@TheSpurscast). Paul has been a credentialed media member covering the San Antonio Spurs and NBA since 2011. Paul has been featured on numerous radio, tv, online and podcast shows.