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Wolves beat the Cavaliers 94-88
Minnesota's backups were too much for Cleveland's All-Stars. Wally Szczerbiak scored 26 points off the bench, and Kevin Garnett added 20 points, 18 rebounds and six assists to lead the Timberwolves to a 94-88 victory over the Cavaliers on Thursday night.
James had 26 points, eight assists and seven rebounds, but was helped to the locker room early in the fourth quarter while battling exhaustion from being ill. After getting fluids in the locker room, James returned to the court with just over 4 minutes to play and had to drop to his knees in the huddle during a timeout.
Jeff McInnis did his best to fill in, hitting two big jumpers off of drives to the basket that gave Cleveland an 81-79 lead with 4:30 to play.
The Timberwolves responded with an 11-2 run. Garnett hit a layup and jumper, Szczerbiak added a jumper of his own and Garnett was able to slither in for an offensive rebound off a missed free throw from Eddie Griffin that led to a 90-83 advantage with 1:27 to play.
James scored six more points after returning to the court, but Griffin sealed the win when he took a no-look pass from Garnett and made a reverse layup with 23 seconds to go.
Garnett was the only Wolves' starter in double figures, but he had plenty of help.
Fred Hoiberg added 13 points and Griffin finished with nine points and 10 rebounds, both off the bench, to lead the balanced effort.
Ilgauskas had 24 points, nine rebounds and two blocks, McInnis had 17 points and seven assists and Drew Gooden added 12 points and 10 boards for Cleveland.
In McHale's three games as coach, the Timberwolves are 2-1 and have started to display the hustle, determination and teamwork that were so integral to their run to the Western Conference finals last season.
During one exchange in the second quarter, the Timberwolves blocked two shots down low before Anthony Carter tipped away the loose ball, fought with Eric Snow to get to it first, then pushed it ahead to a streaking Fred Hoiberg for an easy layup.
The scrappy play prompted a fan behind the Wolves' bench to say, "that's inspiring."
It was a huge step in the right direction for a Minnesota team that has so often been uninspiring during a disappointing first half of the season that ultimately resulted in longtime coach Flip Saunders' firing.
Minnesota outrebounded Cleveland 47-37 and outscored the Cavs 36-30 in the paint, two things McHale has stressed since taking over.
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