<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Winning in overtime, closing out games (even on their second try), making a defensive stand -- all good things for a Timberwolves squad searching for meaning in what's left of this season and developing good habits for next fall. Beating teams that will be in the draft lottery with them? Not so good. The Wolves, after letting a three-point lead slip away in the final 74 seconds of regulation, got it right in overtime and nailed down a 106-104 victory over Golden State on Sunday afternoon at Target Center. But they kind of got it wrong, too, slipping ahead of the Warriors ever so slightly near the bottom of the Western Conference standings and, therefore, hurting themselves a little in regard to the NBA draft in June. We're not just talking about ping pong balls here; rather, the Wolves might spend the final 17 days of the 2005-06 season sweating out whether they will have a lottery pick at all. By edging ahead of Golden State -- from the league's ninth-worst record to 10th-worst -- the Wolves are maxed out for keeping the protected pick they eventually owe the Los Angeles Clippers in the Marko Jaric-Sam Cassell trade. If they improve to 11th-worst or beyond, their pick will go to Los Angeles. Even if they enter the lottery at No. 10, they could get bumped by a lucky team and lose the pick. So if the coaches and players really were thinking about next season, a little losing streak could work wonders. Except that NBA Commissioner David Stern would be watching. And so would a certain someone in the house. "I'm not going to give up any games," Kevin Garnett said. "If they want to go in that direction, they need to come talk to me. As long as I'm on the floor, I'm trying to win the game. "... I'm a player. I don't work upstairs, I don't sign papers, I don't type, you're not going to catch me in a cubicle. Nothing like that. I'm trying to win some games." Assured that neither coach Dwane Casey nor Vice President of Basketball Operations Kevin McHale has said anything of winning-by-losing, Garnett relaxed a bit. "When I step on the floor," he said, "I'm trying to ... win the game and go home." It took a little longer to do that Sunday. Down 12 early in the second quarter, the Wolves tightened their defense and led 92-89 with 1:14 left in regulation. But Jason Richardson tied it with a three-pointer at 44.6 seconds. The Wolves missed three shots on their next possession, and Derek Fisher's three-point heave at the horn missed for the Warriors. In OT, the Wolves led 103-100 with 53 seconds left, got the rebound after a Richardson miss from beyond the arc, survived a shot-clock violation, then strategized their way to the finish. </div> Source
