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T'Wolves fend off Sixers to snap eight-game skid

Basketball Betting Lines

11/19/2008 - Minneapolis, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Al Jefferson led all scorers with 25 points, as the Minnesota Timberwolves snapped an eight-game losing streak with a 102-96 win over the Philadelphia 76ers.

Craig Smith added 21 points off the bench for Minnesota, which picked up just its second win of the season -- the Timberwolves won their opener against Sacramento.

Mike Miller finished with 10 points, 10 rebounds and six assists, and made a three-pointer with 30.4 seconds left that helped Minnesota to the win.

Andre Miller had 20 points and six assists to lead the Sixers, who had won three in a row. Elton Brand finished with 19 points and 13 rebounds, while Andre Iguodala added 17 points, nine rebounds and six assists in the loss.

"There's no guaranteed wins in this league," Brand said. "(Minnesota's) been playing pretty tight ballgames. They've lost a lot of games by five points or less. They're hungry out there...Like I said, there's no 'gimmes' in this league."

The T'Wolves held the lead going into the fourth quarter, 76-65, but saw Philadelphia trim its deficit to six points. Lou Williams had two layups, the latter he turned into a three-point play, that made it an 82-76 contest.

Minnesota briefly restored its double-digit cushion, but the Sixers continued to chip away and with 4:12 to play, Andre Miller drained a pair of free throws to bring Philadelphia within 88-84.

Following a Minnesota miss, Iguodala took a fast-break pass, drove to the hoop and made a circus layup from the right side to get the Sixers within two.

Jefferson then got a basket for the T'Wolves, but Iguodala continued to hustle in the lane on the other end. He first tried a baseline layup, then collected the rebound and nailed a short jumper while being fouled. The free throw got Philadelphia within a point, and after the teams traded points -- Jefferson deposited a pair of layups -- Minnesota's lead stood at just 94-91 with 2 1/2 minutes left.

"I just had to take over. It's like I always said, I don't feel like I have to take every shot in crunch time," Jefferson said. "But the ball should come to me."

The teams were unsuccessful on their next possessions, and Iguodala got to the line with 1 1/2 minutes on the clock. He made just one shot, but Smith made only one for Minnesota.

The Sixers got the rebound off the miss on Smith's second shot, setting up Andre Miller's jumper with 50.4 ticks left. But Mike Miller canned a wide-open triple to put Minnesota ahead 98-94 with 30.4 seconds remaining.

Brand got the rebound off an Iguodala missed three-pointer, and got a fadeaway jumper to fall with 18.4 left. But the Sixers, still down two, were forced to foul. Randy Foye and Corey Brewer each made two free throws in the remaining time to seal Minnesota's win.

The Sixers were up 19-6 on an Iguodala triple midway through the first. But the T'Wolves came back with a 12-2 run, and had a 27-24 deficit at the end of the stanza.

Minnesota edged in front in a mostly back-and-forth second quarter, and was ahead 56-52 going to intermission. The T'Wolves then opened up their lead with a nine-point burst shortly into the third quarter and were ahead 67-56 midway through.

Game Notes

Iguodala made just 1-of-6 three-point attempts, as the Sixers finished 1- for-11 behind the arc for a 9.1 percent success rate. Philadelphia, though, did shoot 47.1 percent overall...Minnesota shot 51.4 percent from the field...Foye finished with 10 points and six assists for the T'Wolves, while Ryan Gomes had 14 points...Thaddeus Young contributed 15 points for the Sixers.