Dwane Casey has brought a defensive mind-set to the Minnesota

[ducks]

Casey brings defensive mind-set to the Timberwolves
November 10, 2005

Dwane Casey has brought a defensive mind-set to the Minnesota Timberwolves this season, and it's paying off.

Minnesota beat the Los Angeles Lakers 88-74 on Wednesday night and snapped Kobe Bryant's 30-point game streak at four games.

``That's all we've talked about is defense, defense, defense,'' Timberwolves guard Troy Hudson said. ``Now we're coming out and backing up our talk.''

When he was hired, Casey started stressing team defense to a group that basically considered it an afterthought in 10 years under Flip Saunders. At least early in the season, the Timberwolves seem to be embracing the new philosophy.

They held the Lakers to 32 percent shooting and 29 points in the second half. Lakers point guard Smush Parker, averaging more than 17 points a game, was held scoreless and Lamar Odom added 15 points and six rebounds before fouling out.

``They're focusing on defense,'' Odom said. ``You can tell.''

In other games, it was: Boston 99, Memphis 98; Cleveland 112, Seattle 85; San Antonio 94, Charlotte 86; New Jersey 91, Utah 83; the Los Angeles Clippers 102, Washington 97; Philadelphia 112, Dallas 97; Orlando 88, New Orleans 83; Chicago 85, Golden State 84; Indiana 95, Miami 90; Portland 95, New York 83; and Denver 107, Sacramento 91.

Bryant was 8-for-13 for 18 points in the first half, but was slow out of the gates in the third quarter. He managed just two points in the first 10 minutes of the period before finishing with six straight.

``We wanted him to see five white jerseys every time he touched the ball,'' Hudson said. ``We have trust in each other.''

Casey deemed the fourth quarter the team's best defensive period of this young season, and smiled as he watched his team collapse on Bryant every time he drove to the basket.

``We made stands,'' Casey said proudly. ``We're doing a much better job picking it up defensively.''

Kevin Garnett had 17 points and 15 rebounds to lead Minnesota.

Celtics 99, Grizzlies 98

Ricky Davis made a jumper as time expired, and Paul Pierce scored 29 points as Boston overcame an 18-point deficit at home and beat Memphis.

After Eddie Jones' jumper gave the Grizzlies a one-point lead with 13 seconds remaining, Pierce was double-teamed as he drove baseline and passed to Davis, who was wide open at the foul line.

Jones led the Grizzlies with 20 points.

Cavaliers 112, SuperSonics 85

LeBron James scored 31 points and Cleveland made a team-record 28 straight free throws before their first miss.

Making 19-of-19 free throws in the first 24 minutes, the Cavaliers built a 22-point halftime lead at home.

Cleveland was a perfect 28-of-28 from the line when Alan Henderson missed the first of two with 8:16 left. The Cavaliers' previous record for consecutive free throws was 22 on Dec. 17, 1987, at Chicago.

Ray Allen scored 28 points, but had little help from the rest of the Sonics.

Spurs 94, Bobcats 86

Tim Duncan scored 29 points and Tony Parker added 23 to lead visiting San Antonio.

The Bobcats, who played into overtime in three of their first four games, were clearly feeling the effects of that grind against the defending NBA champions.

Gerald Wallace, who was questionable before the game because of a concussion he suffered Monday night, scored 15 points to lead Charlotte.

Nets 91, Jazz 83

Vince Carter had 21 points to lead New Jersey over visiting Utah.

Richard Jefferson missed the second triple-double of his career by one rebound with 17 points, nine boards and 12 assists.

Andrei Kirilenko led Utah with 18 points.

Clippers 102, Wizards 97

Elton Brand had 31 points and 13 rebounds, and the visiting Clippers handed the Wizards their first loss of the season.

Brand's double-double was the 181st of his career, tying him with Loy Vaught for the Clippers' franchise record.

Corey Maggette finished with 20 points, six rebounds and three assists.

Reserve Caron Butler, who missed the previous two games with a bruised left thigh, led the Wizards with 19 points.

76ers 112, Mavericks 97

Allen Iverson scored 25 points and keyed a decisive 15-0 run to lead Philadelphia.

Andre Iguodala scored 22 points, Kyle Korver 20 and Chris Webber had 19 points and 11 rebounds for the Sixers, who opened a season-high four-game homestand with their first home win.

Keith Van Horn scored 19 points, and Jason Terry 15 for the Mavericks. Dirk Nowitzki left late in the second quarter after straining his back and did not return.

Magic 88, Hornets 83

Steve Francis scored 24 points to help Orlando hand New Orleans its first loss in Oklahoma City.

Dwight Howard added 16 points and 13 rebounds for Orlando.

Speedy Claxton led New Orleans with 24 points.

Bulls 85, Warriors 84

Michael Sweetney hit two free throws with 6.3 seconds left, and Kirk Hinrich added 23 points for the Bulls, who overcame 26 turnovers on their way to a victory over Golden State.

With the visiting Warriors ahead 84-83, Hinrich found Sweetney on the right block. Troy Murphy fouled him, and Sweetney hit both free throws to put the Bulls ahead.

The Warriors had one last chance, but Jason Richardson's floater missed.

Baron Davis scored 17 points and Richardson and Derek Fisher added 15 apiece for the Warriors, who were trying to complete their first three-game road sweep since December 1992.

Pacers 95, Heat 90

Ron Artest scored 24 points to lead the Pacers over the visiting Heat.

Artest struggled from the free-throw line until it mattered most. He made two shots with 53 seconds left to give Indiana a 91-90 lead. After Dwyane Wade missed a jumper, Indiana's Sarunas Jasikevicius scored on a layup with 14 seconds remaining to increase the Pacers' lead to 93-90.

Antoine Walker missed a 3-pointer with 7 seconds left.

Wade led Miami with 29 points, 11 rebounds and six assists, but he tied a career high with 10 turnovers.

Trail Blazers 95, Knicks 83

Zach Randolph had 29 points and 12 rebounds and the Trail Blazers kept New York winless.

Randolph hit a 20-footer, then added a pair of free throws to make it 85-72 and the Blazers sailed the rest of the way for their second straight win.

Portland evened its record under new coach Nate McMillan to 2-2, with both its victories coming at the Rose Garden.

In their first season under new coach Larry Brown, the Knicks are 0-4. Jamal Crawford led the Knicks with 15 points, while Eddy Curry had 14 points and nine rebounds.

Nuggets 107, Kings 91

Marcus Camby scored eight of his 20 points during Denver's 18-3 run in the fourth quarter and added 11 rebounds and six blocked shots, helping the Nuggets pull away from the road-weary Kings.

Sacramento opened the season with three straight road games and had to play in Denver's mile-high air a night after losing by 14 to Detroit.

Peja Stojakovic led the Kings with 26 points and was 6-for-10 on 3-pointers.

[sickdsm]

The neat thing about Casey is that he's not predictable. His rotations are drastically different each night. I thought Troy was in the doghouse with a DNP-CD the opening game but that isn't so. Frahm has played well, DNP last night. Jaric didn't see the floor last night in the fourth. Casey will be have man defense out there and suddenly switch to a 3-2 zones for a few plays, switch it back when they hit a bucket and so forth. Where as Flip would have the EXACT same subs ution strategy's no matter the score or who has the hot hand. Flip would also play zone for an extended period even when it was getting beat. I still don't agree with all his subs utions and plays but i'm cool with it. I don't understand how come he wanted to protect McCants from getting lit up by Ray Allen and Cutino yet he put him in extended minutes guarding Kobe last night.