http://www.twincities.com/mld/twincities/sports/basketball/16702190.htm Leave it to the unpredictable Timberwolves to spend two quarters drenched in apathy Wednesday night only to saddle up and grind out a pivotal victory thanks to another clutch play by their rookie point guard. Perhaps four days to rest and ponder the playoff potential lurking in the 30-game stretch drive will give Minnesota more time to iron out its fickle play. Despite getting steamrolled out of the locker room in the first and third quarters, the Timberwolves dialed up the defense and nailed a series of clutch shots to rally for a 99-94 victory over the Denver Nuggets at Target Center. Randy Foye's driving layup over towering center Marcus Camby gave the Wolves a huge three-point lead with 23.3 seconds left. Foye, who was virtually invisible throughout the game before the waning seconds, followed that up by draining a pair of free throws with 14.7 seconds left to seal the win. Making his second straight start at point guard after coach Randy Wittman benched Mike James, Foye scored only eight points. But five were in the final five minutes. This after his drive and dish set up Ricky Davis' game-winning shot Sunday night against Boston. Equally clutch was center Mark Blount, who buried three jumpers and two free throws to help the Wolves turn a five-point deficit into a 93-92 lead with 1:28 remaining. Blount finished with a team-high 24 points on 11-of-19 shooting as he continued to carry a hot hand. He is averaging 22.7 points in his past four games. "Mr. Consistency," backup forward Craig Smith said. "Night in and night out, he puts up those kinds of numbers. Everyone knows he's capable of making big shots. Tonight, he hit about three or four for us." The Wolves (25-27) enter the all-star break having won three of four after losing four straight to move within 1? games of second-place Denver in the Northwest Division. "This is definitely like two wins," said Kevin Garnett, who dominated the boards with 17 rebounds to go with 19 points. The Nuggets (26-25) were without injured star Allen Iverson, who remained in Denver nursing a badly sprained ankle that will keep him out of this weekend's All-Star Game. Regardless, Minnesota trailed 20-9 six minutes into the game and held the lead for only 2:01 total before Blount and Foye's heroics. They flailed away underneath the basket and missed numerous uncontested shots in addition to their ice-cold 3-for-13 production from three-point distance. Defensively, the Wolves struggled to contain Denver big man Nene (18 points on 7-for-11 shooting) and were torched by Carmelo Anthony, who finished with a game-high 28 points. But Wittman deployed more zone defenses down the stretch, forcing the Nuggets into turnovers just as the Wolves found their legs and heated up from the field. "We had six or seven turnovers in the fourth quarter. It's tough to win that way on the road," lamented Nuggets coach George Karl. Foye was ineffective most of the night and found himself on the bench for half the game while James ran the offense until running out of gas with five minutes left. "What I'm most proud of is, we had players who didn't have the best of games but hung in there," Wittman said. "(Randy) struggled, yeah, and he's going to struggle. We stayed with it. If we can get to where we're doing it, you stay in games even though it's not going your way, sooner or later the tide's going to turn." Foye said it took a team effort for the Wolves to shake off a rocky start, adding that the team's confidence is growing at the same pace as his. "Early in the season, if something like that would have happened, that team would have probably blown us out," he said. "If the shots are not going for certain guys, they're doing other things to help the team, and I think that was big for us tonight." --

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