Wolves beat Jazz on final shot

Published 9:18 am Thursday, February 23, 2012

MINNEAPOLIS — Soft-spoken and quiet, Luke Ridnour does his job with little fanfare.

After sending the Timberwolves to a buzzer-beater victory heading into the All-Star break, he couldn’t help but enjoy the moment, at least for a little bit.

Ridnour hit a floater in the lane at the buzzer, capping Minnesota’s comeback from 16 points down in the fourth quarter as the Timberwolves beat the Utah Jazz 100-98 on Wednesday night.

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Utah’s Al Jefferson sank a jumper with Love in his face to tie the score at 98 with 7 seconds remaining.

After a timeout, Ridnour took a pass from J.J. Barea, drove the lane, and sank a high-arching runner off of one leg over Jefferson as the buzzer sounded.

“Luke knocks that down all the time,” Wolves coach Rick Adelman said. “The floater, he knows he’s got to get it off before he gets to the big guys. That was unbelievable, in traffic, getting around the guy and knocking it down. Couldn’t be happier for him.”

Ridnour said the play was for Barea to attack off the pick-and-roll, but two Utah defenders switched and took that option away so Barea found Ridnour.

“Yeah, I thought it was going in,” Ridnour said. “To see it go in was a good feeling.”

Barea finished with a season-high 22 points and tied a career high with five 3-pointers, and Ridnour added 17 points. Nikola Pekovic, playing through an ankle injury, added 15 points and 12 rebounds.

Paul Millsap scored 25 and Josh Howard added a season-high 19 to lead the Jazz, who lost their third straight and stumble into the All-Star break.

“It’s a tough one, just hands down,” Howard said. “That’s something that’s going to be on your mind for a little bit.”

Wolves rookie Derrick Williams converted a three-point play with 56.7 seconds left to tie the score at 93, then got fouled attempting a fastbreak layup after Love’s steal. Williams made both free throws with 42.5 seconds left to give Minnesota its first lead since 2-0, and the Timberwolves didn’t trail again.

“I like to get put in those clutch situations,” Williams said. “I feel a little more comfortable, a little more locked in. At that point in time, I was just like, ‘I can’t miss these free throws.’”

Gordon Hayward had a chance to tie it with 28.7 seconds to play, but missed the second of two free throws.

The Wolves enter the All-Star break at .500 or better for the first time since the 2004-05 season. Their 17 wins matches their total from last season.