Wolves Blow Lead, Lose Third Straight

<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">SEATTLE ? If the Timberwolves were going to win a game on this long road trip, Friday night was probably their best chance.

They had a day of rest and were playing a Seattle team that began Friday with a losing record at home.

But it was the Sonics who finished the game strong, outscoring Minnesota 17-6 down the stretch and handing the Wolves a 107-96 loss at KeyArena. Ray Allen scored 38 points and hit two three-pointers late.

The score was 90-90 with 5:19 remaining after Kevin Garnett made two free throws, but the Sonics used a burst of energy and capitalized on Wolves mistakes to put the game away.

"We have to put together 48 minutes. That's been our story all year," first-year Wolves coach Dwane Casey said.

The Wolves' road slump worsened, with their third straight loss, to 3-17 in their past 20 games. Minnesota will play tonight in Phoenix, the Pacific Division leader, and then head to Los Angeles for a game apiece against the Clippers and Lakers.

The only game that appears favorable of the four remaining is Golden State. But the last time they played the Warriors, the Wolves lost by 32 points, their worst defeat of the season. And the timing of that game is less than ideal.

The next meeting with Golden State will come Thursday, a night after they play the Lakers. Although Golden State began Friday mired in a 2-8 slump, Minnesota is 4-8 this season on the second game of back-to-backs.
Part of the problem against Seattle was point guard Marcus Banks' inexperience in clutch situations. He had a reputation in Boston for playing well without pressure but faltering down the stretch.

These are the mistakes Minnesota is going to have to live with.

"Decision-making down the stretch is so huge. Marcus is going to be a super point guard in this league. You have to take his good with his bad," Casey said.

Though Banks played well in the first half ? 13 points, eight assists, one turnover and four steals ? he slowed in the second half. He scored just two points and had four turnovers with one assist after halftime.

"That's growing pains. Hopefully Marcus will learn from it; nobody was trying harder than he was," Casey said.

He missed two shots down the stretch, the first with 3:37 left and the Wolves down by three and then with 2:44 remaining, down by five.

"I have to try to make sure things like that don't happen," Banks said of his mistakes.

After Allen's three-pointer made it an eight-point Seattle lead, Banks missed a layup and Chris Wilcox converted an alley-oop layup for a 104-94 advatange with 2:06 to play.

The game was all but over, and it didn't help that Banks threw a post-entry pass to Garnett out of bounds with 1:36 left.

In the waning moments of the second quarter, Banks appeared to get poked in the eye when he stole the ball from Earl Watson. He finished the sequence with a layup, but he clutched his face immediately after and dropped to the ground.

Banks put his arm around a teammate for help to walk off the court into the locker room with the Wolves ahead 55-48. Banks started the second half.
The Wolves led by as many as nine points in the third, including 65-56 on Blount's jumper with 5:45 left.

But the Sonics went on a 9-0 run to tie the score 65-65, forcing Minnesota to a call a timeout with 3:50 left. After being outscored 24-19 in the third, the Wolves clung to a 74-72 lead heading into the fourth.

The Wolves led 83-79 with 9:22 remaining. The score remained tight, and then Watson's three-pointer put the Sonics ahead 90-88 with 5:33 left.
Casey split the season series against his former team, 2-2</div>

Source