MINNEAPOLIS — Jonny Flynn had a
career-high 29 points and nine assists and the Minnesota Timberwolves
rallied from 20 points down to beat the Philadelphia 76ers 108-103 in
overtime on Monday.
Al Jefferson added 23 points and 13
rebounds to help the Timberwolves complete their biggest comeback of
the season against the stunned Sixers.
Andre Iguodala had 17 points, seven
rebounds and five assists for the Sixers but missed a jumper at the
buzzer that would have given Philadelphia the win in regulation.
Flynn had four points and a key steal
in the first minute of the extra period to get the Wolves on track for
just their ninth victory of the season.
Minnesota trailed by 17 points at
halftime, but Ryan Gomes scored 14 of his 16 points in a 33-18 third
quarter to get the Wolves back in the game. Damien Wilkins added 13
points and 10 rebounds for the Wolves.
Willie Green scored 16 points and
Allen Iverson had 11 points and nine assists, but hardly played in the
fourth quarter and overtime for Philadelphia.
Now, 76ers coach Eddie Jordan really
might start feeling the heat. Team president Ed Stefanski recently
refused to guarantee Jordan would last the entire season, and this
collapse against the worst team in the Western Conference certainly
won't help his cause.
Philadelphia cruised out to a huge
early lead thanks to torrid shooting and another lackluster start by
the young Timberwolves, who missed 22 of their first 29 shots.
The Sixers, who have struggled to
score points all season long, rolled up 57 in the first half and only turned the ball over four times to build a 17-point lead at the
break.
This came three days after coach
Kurt Rambis said he was "embarrassed" for his players' defensive effort
in a 135-110 loss at Memphis on Friday night. Rambis didn't even take
questions during that brief postgame evaluation and went so far as to
have a team spokesman notify reporters before the end of the game that
he was going to be ready to talk immediately after the game was over.
The Timberwolves finally started to
play like Rambis wanted in the third quarter. A 13-2 run put them back
in the game and Flynn hit a 3-pointer to tie the game 73-73 late in the
period.
The Wolves played without Kevin Love, who missed the game because of an illness.
Even without their leading rebounder
and second-leading scorer, the Wolves outrebounded Philly 43-39 and had
a 22-8 edge in second-chance points.
Notes
Samuel Dalembert, who ranks second
in the NBA in blocks per game, has at least three blocks in five of the
last six games. … Timberwolves C Ryan Hollins returned to the lineup
after missing six games because of an upper respiratory infection.