SAN ANTONIO _ For most of three quarters the Timberwolves played some inspired basketball. At least on offense.
On the road, against a San Antonio team that had lost two of three entering Tuesday's game, the Wolves got wizardry from Ricky Rubio and production from big men Karl-Anthony Towns and Gorgui Dieng.
And then, in a fashion seen too often this season, it suddenly crashed and burned.
Up seven points with 1:40 left in the third quarter after a Towns 3-pointer, the Wolves imploded. The end result: A 122-114 loss to San Antonio that came thanks to too many turnovers and not enough baskets.
Leading the way for the Spurs was Kawhi Leonard, who scored 34 points. LaMarcus Aldrige had 27.
Leonard scored four points in a 9-0 run to end the third quarter that put the Spurs up by two. And then the Spurs opened the fourth quarter on an 11-2 run to take an 11-point lead on Leonard's fast-break slam. It was a 20-2 run over 6 minutes and 4 seconds.
The Spurs turned 18 Wolves turnovers into 22 points.
Rubio scored a season-high 21 points to go with 13 assists, his career-best fifth straight game with 10 or more. Towns had 27 points and 15 rebounds.
Towns had 11 points and five rebounds and Rubio had six points and four assists in a first quarter that ended with the game tied.
Towns had four points in a 7-0 mid-quarter run that was capped on Rubio's free throw after Spurs coach Gregg Popovich was called for a technical. But Leonard had six points and both Manu Ginobili and Paddy Mills came off the bench to hit two 3-pointers.
The Wolves led 30-27 late in the quarter when Nemanja Bjelica was fouled on a buzzer-beating 3-point attempt. He made all three free throws with 0.2 left on the clock to tie the game.
The second quarter was seemingly an hours-long marathon that saw the two teams combine for 39 free throw attempts.
The Wolves had a big edge in that department until the Spurs starting to make steady trips to the line down the stretch of the half.
But the Wolves took the lead early in the quarter, grew it as big as eight and still led 71-67 at the half thanks to a 41-point quarter. It was their biggest quarter of the season and three points off their biggest half.
Leading the way was Rubio and Shabazz Muhammad. Rubio had 10 points, two rebounds and made eight of eight free throws in the quarter. Muhammad _ held scoreless in Dallas on Sunday _ scored 13 points in the quarter, going 5-for-5 at the line. In total, the Wolves made 29 of 30 first-half free throws.
But the combination of Leonard and Aldridge was hot as well. Both had 11 second-quarter points as the Spurs matched the Wolves nearly point for point in the first half, in which the two teams combined for 138 points.
For most of the third quarter, perhaps surprisingly, the Wolves held fast to that lead. With all five starters scoring, the Wolves held off the Spurs.
That is, until the final moments.
Towns hit a 3-pointer with 1:40 left in the quarter, a shot that put the Wolves up 90-83.
And then? Mills hit a 3-pointer. Aldridge made two free throws. After a Wolves turnover Wiggins fouled Leonard on a made 3-pointer, and the free throw put the Spurs up for the first time since early in the second quarter.
