Wolves fade in fourth http://www.twincities.com/mld/twincities/sports/basketball/14044169.htm Minnesota blows lead, misses first 12 shots in final quarter As good as the Timberwolves looked down the stretch Sunday, they were just as bad Tuesday night in the fourth quarter. They started the final quarter 1 for 19 from the field against the Houston Rockets during another meltdown, losing 93-87 at Target Center in a game that wasn't as close as the final score. The Wolves missed their first 12 shots in the fourth quarter and didn't score a point for the first six minutes. Forget about whatever momentum they had after winning three of their previous four games, including a 103-90 victory over Golden State on Sunday that was highlighted by a 23-7 run to close the game. Instead, Minnesota begins a six-game road trip tonight in Utah coming off one of the ugliest fourth quarters in franchise history. Three points were all the Wolves could muster until Ricky Davis made two free throws with 1:29 left, trimming the deficit to 81-72. Wolves coach Dwane Casey said the tempo of the game slowed, and his team stopped running. His club had scored at least 100 points in each of the previous five games, the longest such streak of the season. "We wanted to increase the tempo, push the envelope and play as fast as we could," Casey said. "If you are going to be a running team, you have to do it every night. You have to force it. Sometimes the guys think they are running, and they are jogging instead of sprinting." A flurry of baskets with less than a minute left made the final score more respectable but only masked the Wolves' miserable performance in the fourth quarter. Minnesota's franchise record for fewest fourth-quarter points is nine, most recently at New Jersey on Oct. 31, 2003. The Wolves avoided matching that when rookie Rashad McCants made a three-pointer with 28.3 seconds left, cutting the deficit to 88-79. "I think we just went back to our bad habit that we've been having trouble with, losing our focus," Davis said. "When teams make a run, you have to make a run back at them. That happens. We just have to keep playing through it, and hopefully those bad habits can stay further and further away." Casey wants his team to push the ball as often as possible, within reason. And the Wolves went into the fourth quarter with a 67-61 lead. That was still a slow pace, but it was good enough for a lead. In the fourth, though, the Wolves started setting for jump shots, and when they did attack the basket, they were met by 7-5 Rockets center Yao Ming, who finished with 30 points and 13 rebounds. "We've got to pick our spots," point guard Marcus Banks said. "I would love to get out and run every single play. But my job as a point guard, I have to make sure we get a great shot every time down. If that takes away from us running or pushing the ball a couple times down, I'll do that." Banks scored a season high with 26 points on 12-of-19 shooting. But that performance will be overshadowed by his team's loss and inability to establish the tempo Casey wanted in the fourth quarter. Davis and Kevin Garnett shot 1 for 10 combined in the fourth. Minnesota's reserves, a bright spot in the previous four games, scored six points combined on the night and shot 1 for 15 overall. The Wolves led by 11 points, 25-14, with less than two minutes left in the first quarter. The loss was Minnesota's ninth this season after leading by at least 10 points. And all of this trouble came against a Rockets team that played without its leading scorer, Tracy McGrady, sidelined with a sore back. --

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