Payback's a Bench

The Wolves dominated the Celtics tonight in a game that featured 6 players facing their former teams. I missed the first quarter, but I heard the Wolves jumped out to a 10-0 lead from the tip. They also closed the half with a 12-2 run and the third quarter with a 9-0 run. For the first time I can remember this season, the game never appeared to be in doubt after halftime. KG had a modest game, but most of the other Wolves had big games. In particular the recent arrivals from Boston had big games. Marcus Banks, playing in his first game with the Wolves, scored 20 points and had 5 assists. He and Mark blount were clearly out to prove the Celtics made a mistake in cutting them loose. Blount was hot from the floor and wound up with 16 points and 10 boards. Justin Reed also played big minutes and defended Paul Pierce very well. He also leaked out for a couple of long outlet passes from KG on defensive rebounds. He was fouled hard both times and made all 4 free throws. Ricky Davis was quiet in the scoring column with only 9 points on 9 shots -- he shot 18 times in each of his first 2 games with the Wolves -- but chipped in with 5 boards and 5 assists along with good defense on Wally Szczerbiak.

The game was most notable, though, for the Wolves holding the lead they amassed by halftime. The Celtics never got within 8 points in the second half. Paul Pierce came out really aggressive, but Garnett kept putting points back on the board for the Wolves, hitting 5 of 6 free throws in the period. He was taken out with 2 minutes left in the 3rd and got the rest of the game off. In the 4th quarter, there were a few shots of him talking with Ricky Davis. All in all, this game showed a lot of improvement and offered some much-needed hope for this "new look" team. Without a question, the moves by McHale have resulted in a quicker and better defending team. If the offense can develop to the point of adequacy, the Wolves may finally have a consistent winning formula. But their next game is at Detroit, so maybe it'll be a little longer until we see it... or maybe not! ...But probably