Minneapolis • While the Jazz completely froze, Tyrone Corbin just watched.
Standing helplessly at the opposite end of the hardwood, the Jazz coach barely saw Minnesota’s Luke Ridnour toss up a running floater in the lane as the clock ticked down Wednesday. Soon, Corbin caught sight of the ball. Then he glanced at the clock. Looked back at the ball. Again eyed the clock.
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Storylines
In short » The Jazz blow a 16-point fourth-quarter lead and lose on Luke Ridnour’s running floater with no time left.Key stat » Minnesota sinks 11 of 22 3-point attempts, including 5 of 9 during the fourth quarter.
Key moment » Up 93-90 with 1:54 to go, Utah allows the Wolves to close the game on a 10-5 run.
Timberwolves 100, Jazz 98
FG FT Reb
Utah Min M-A M-A O-T A PF Pts
Howard 31:48 8-15 2-3 2-6 2 6 19
Millsap 38:14 10-17 5-5 1-9 2 4 25
Jefferson 37:25 8-20 2-2 5-11 1 3 18
Harris 25:30 3-7 4-4 0-2 8 6 10
Hayward 30:12 3-7 1-2 1-2 2 1 7
Favors 12:16 1-2 3-4 1-6 1 3 5
Watson 22:32 1-4 0-0 1-1 5 3 2
Miles 18:30 2-6 2-2 0-0 2 1 6
Kanter 8:04 0-2 0-0 1-2 0 0 0
Burks 15:30 3-5 0-2 2-2 2 2 6
Totals 240:01 39-85 19-24 14-41 25 29 98
Percentages: FG .459, FT .792. 3-Point Goals: 1-7, .143 (Howard 1-1, Harris 0-1, Hayward 0-1, Watson 0-1, Miles 0-3). Team Rebounds: 5. Team Turnovers: 9 (11 PTS). Blocked Shots: 4 (Millsap 2, Jefferson, Kanter). Turnovers: 9 (Hayward 3, Favors 2, Burks, Harris, Jefferson, Millsap). Steals: 15 (Hayward 3, Jefferson 3, Watson 3, Harris 2, Millsap 2, Burks, Howard). Technical Fouls: None.
FG FT Reb
Minn. Min M-A M-A O-T A PF Pts
Johnson 20:46 4-7 0-0 1-4 0 2 9
Love 37:06 3-14 4-6 3-10 3 4 10
Pekovic 32:29 3-11 9-10 8-12 0 2 15
Rubio 32:24 2-7 1-6 1-3 6 2 7
Ridnour 34:44 5-10 6-6 2-3 6 2 17
Webster 21:22 2-5 0-0 0-1 0 2 5
Beasley 8:37 1-3 0-2 0-1 0 0 2
Barea 26:07 7-12 3-3 1-4 4 3 22
Williams 20:16 4-8 4-5 3-9 0 1 13
Milicic 6:09 0-0 0-0 0-1 1 1 0
Totals 240:00 31-77 27-38 19-48 20 19 100
Percentages: FG .403, FT .711. 3-Point Goals: 11-22, .500 (Barea 5-6, Rubio 2-3, Williams 1-2, Johnson 1-3, Ridnour 1-3, Webster 1-3, Love 0-2). Team Rebounds: 14. Team Turnovers: 18 (18 PTS). Blocked Shots: 3 (Beasley, Johnson, Williams). Turnovers: 17 (Rubio 6, Love 3, Barea 2, Ridnour 2, Johnson, Milicic, Pekovic, Williams). Steals: 5 (Love 3, Rubio 2). Technical Fouls: None.
Utah 27 22 28 21 — 98
Minnesota 15 22 27 36 — 100
Attendance » 18,776
Time » 2:18.
Officials » Ron Garretson, Derrick Collins, Steve Anderson.
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Everything was in slow, surreal, unbearable motion.
It only got worse.
When Ridnour’s eight-foot teardrop sank through to somehow give the Timberwolves a 100-98 comeback win against the Jazz, Utah’s worst fears had come to fruition.
The Jazz (15-17) had completely blown it. Up by 16 points with 9 minutes, 36 seconds left in the fourth quarter and unleashing one of their best fights of the season. Then, suddenly, down and out and broken apart inside a raucous Target Center.
Jazz-Timberwolves box score: http://bit.ly/wgyJN7
Corbin saw it all. The Jazz’s three-quarter, full-on attack. Their 9:36 meltdown. And when Ridnour’s game-winner crashed to the court with no time remaining, the coach was as shaken and shocked as he’s been since taking over late last season for Jerry Sloan.
"You just go, like, ‘Oh my [God]," Corbin said.
For the Jazz, that’s all there was to say.
They owned the Wolves (17-17) for 38:24. They held the Wolves to 40.3 percent (31 of 77) shooting from the floor overall, while limiting All-Star Kevin Love and steadily improving center Nikola Pekovic to a combined 6-of-25 shooting. They outscored the Wolves 58-30 in the paint, 77-64 through three quarters and saw their seemingly untouchable lead swell to 18 in the second period.
Then came the collapse.
An offense that once ran free and smooth began to clank. Timberwolves backup guard J.J. Barea played like he was still being paid by the NBA champion Dallas Mavericks, easily splitting Utah’s breakable pick-and-roll defense and ultimately drilling 5 of 6 3-pointers for a team-high 22 points. Throw in Minnesota rookie Derrick Williams’ late-game ascension, the Jazz shooting just 36.8 percent (7 of 19) from the field during the fourth, and the Timberwolves outscoring Utah 36-21 in the period, and it was all over.
The Jazz had done everything right for more than three quarters. Then they trashed it in the fourth. And by the time Corbin was publicly processing the hurt, he was doing everything from considering a major change to the starting lineup to using words he’s never employed before as the Jazz’s lead man.
"It’s real painful now and it should hurt, and the guys are really disappointed and they should be, because we should’ve won this game," he said. "Coming out of the All-Star break, one of the things we talked about is, we’ve got to learn our lessons. We’ve got to feel this hurt."
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