MINNEAPOLIS _ As if the Timberwolves needed more bad news on the injury and illness front, they came into Monday's game against the Nets with two more names out � Noah Vonleh and Treveon Graham.
They joined a growing list that included Karl-Anthony Towns (left knee sprain) and Andrew Wiggins (flu-like symptoms); Vonleh with a left gluteal contusion, Graham seems to have caught whatever bug is going around the team.
That meant it was development night at Target Center against the similarly shorthanded Nets.
The split-squad Wolves came up with a 122-115 overtime victory over Brooklyn for their second win in three games, a win which snapped a nine-game home losing streak.
�The Wolves took control of overtime thanks to a pair of three-pointers from Robert Covington and Kelan Martin that gave them a 113-109 lead. A Shabazz Napier jumper pushed that lead to 115-109 with 1:39 to play. It was Napier who sealed the game with another three to make is 120-113 with 42.4 seconds to play.
Napier had 24 to lead the Wolves while Spencer Dinwiddie had 36 for Brooklyn on 31 shot attempts. The Wolves had five other players in double figures: Jarrett Culver (21), Naz Reid (13), Keita Bates-Diop (15), Covington (14) and Dieng (11). Dieng also added 20 rebounds before fouling out in overtime.
After he hit a pair of free throws, Dieng buried a corner three with 56.3 seconds remaining in the fourth to give the Wolves a 103-101 lead for what was their biggest advantage of the night up to that point. But Taurean Prince answered with a runner to tie it at 103 with 26.9 seconds left. Napier missed a three on the Wolves last shot of regulation, while officials granted a timeout to the Nets when it seemed they didn't have possession. Their desperate attempt with 0.2 seconds left was unsuccessful. The kerfuffle wound up not mattering.
The injury situation almost got even worse for the Wolves. Covington left the floor and headed to the locker room, as did Dieng. Fortunately for the Wolves both returned to the game, Covington with a wrap on his left thumb. Jeff Teague would go down late after colliding with Prince and clutched his knee, but he would also return.
All the injuries meant young players were going to play a significant role for better or worse.
The crowd was most excited about Reid, who has played a grand total of four minutes in his rookie season. Reid, a 6-9 center from LSU, has been averaging 18.4 points and shooting 39% from three-point range for Iowa _ and he wasn't shy about chucking it in his first significant NBA action.
With the Wolves trailing 50-49 in the third quarter, Teague returned to the game as the Wolves grabbed their first lead of the night. That came after Shabazz Napier drilled a three to make it 61-60 with 6:17 to play. The quarter also featured a first for one Wolves players _ Jordan Bell who hit a three from the left corner. It was Bell's first career three, and he celebrated like it was. His teammates erupted and the shot brought the Wolves back within 75-74 toward the end of the quarter.
But Brooklyn wrestled at the end of the third and start of the fourth. A Garrett Temple three closed the third to put the Nets up six, then Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot got hot, hitting three triples to match Brooklyn's biggest lead of the night at 89-80 and prompting Ryan Saunders to call timeout.
But the Wolves scored seven straight out of the timeout, including five from Culver, to pull within two and forcing a Brooklyn timeout. They would tie the score 89-89 on a Kelan Martin layup. They would tie it again 96-96 on a Dieng putback dunk with 3:30 to play. The score would end up tied after regulation, only for the Wolves to gut out this one like they did against Sacramento four days ago.
