http://www.startribune.com/511/story/980654.html Kevin Garnett looked like he was ready to melt down. Halfway through the third quarter Saturday, the Timberwolves were down by 17 points and seemingly out against the Mavericks in Dallas. Garnett already had lost 6 minutes, 47 seconds of the second quarter, pulled with three fouls by coach Randy Wittman, and had just coughed up consecutive turnovers for five of Dallas' points in a 10-2 run. Now the Wolves' All-Star forward was deep into the second half, still in search of his first rebound. Early in the fourth quarter, Garnett actually looked ready to square off with Mavericks center DeSagana Diop. But the moment passed, Garnett hit jumpers from both baselines and quickly a horrible night turned into something worthy of his scrapbook: 19 points and 12 rebounds in the second half, and two more baskets that had Minnesota within 92-90 with 1:43 to play. "These last couple of games have been like crap," Garnett said when asked afterward about his play. "I'm just trying to figure it out and get some momentum going into the fourth. ... Just couldn't turn the corner, man." The Mavericks took Garnett away as an option after that, using Josh Howard to stay between him and the ball at all times. That enabled them to escape with a 94-93 victory. It also had the Mavericks offering huzzahs to Garnett, after what had begun so miserably. "KG is a tough cover," coach Avery Johnson said. "He saw Diop tonight, then he saw [Erick] Dampier and then he saw Dirk [Nowitzki]. We had to give him some different looks because he is such a good player." The Wolves need a victory. For the second time in 10 days, they will try against the Rockets tonight to salvage a multigame trip on the final stop. "We're trying to get some consistency around here, man," Garnett said. "Witt told us this was probably going to be the toughest part of our schedule. And when he said that, he wasn't lying." A Wittman trait? The Wolves will say they've been in position to win all seven games since Wittman took over on Jan. 23, but that blurs things a little. They weren't ready at all against Sacramento last Wed- nesday and started badly against New Orleans on Friday. But one noticeable improvement since the coaching switch has been some renewed defense late in games. In the fourth quarters of Wittman's seven games, the Wolves have allowed 34.7 percent shooting (42-for-121) and an average of 20.0 points. In their previous 20 games, they were at 50.8 percent and 25.0 points. And in the first 20 games this season, the Wolves yielded 38.9 percent shooting and 21.9 points. Monday morning QB After Ricky Davis missed a 15-footer at 94-90 with 9.9 seconds left, Howard rebounded and heaved the ball high into the backcourt. Randy Foye retrieved it and hit a three-pointer as time ran out. That had Witt- man second-guessing himself afterward. "In reality, sitting here now, I probably should have called timeout," he said. "I think that was, realistically, maybe the only chance we had to win. Get a timeout, hit a three real quick, foul, and throw one in from three-quarter court." Tough task: Only 3.9 seconds remained when Foye ran down Howard's toss. --

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