Nov 30, 2007 9:52 pm US/Central
Ginobili's 31 Points Leads Spurs Over T'Wolves
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) ―
Manu Ginobili scored a season-high 31 points, and the San Antonio Spurs showed the fledgling Minnesota Timberwolves why they're the defending NBA champions with a 106-91, comeback victory Friday night.
Ginobili, San Antonio's super sub, shot 11-for-16 from the field. Tim Duncan had 20 points and 14 rebounds for the Spurs, who didn't lead until early in the fourth quarter.
The Timberwolves lost for the 12th time in 14 games this season.
Al Jefferson had 23 points and 11 rebounds for Minnesota, and Sebastian Telfair scored 17 points despite some erratic play at point guard.
The Timberwolves played this one with a depleted backcourt. Randy Foye has been out all season and might be sidelined for another month, and Rashad McCants was a surprise scratch before the game because of a sore right knee. Then Marko Jaric, who has replaced Foye as the starting point guard, sprained his right foot and left after the first quarter.
Minnesota withstood the injuries into the second half, but the final 85 seconds of the third quarter were devastating. After Greg Buckner subbed for Telfair at the point, San Antonio closed with an 8-0 run that grew to 14-0 on consecutive 3-pointers by Bruce Bowen and Brent Barry to start the fourth.
The Wolves built their biggest lead, 80-66, before that spurt and didn't fall behind until Duncan's free throw with 9:05 remaining made it 83-82.
It was the first time Duncan and the Spurs played Minnesota without Kevin Garnett, after a series of sometimes-testy, always-competitive matchups between two of the league's premier power forwards.
Mark Madsen spent much of the game upsetting Duncan. Madsen drew a foul on the nine-time All-Star with an Oscar-worthy flop following a light forearm to the chest in the first quarter in front of San Antonio's bench, angering coach Gregg Popovich to the point of drawing a technical foul.
In the third, Madsen was called for his fourth personal foul for some rough stuff around the basket involving Duncan, who got mad and directed an expletive at Madsen. Madsen walked away with his back turned, and Duncan was whistled for a technical.
Duncan had only two field goals over the first 31 minutes, but he warmed up and finished strong.
(© 2009 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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