Timberwolves J.J. Barea leads Minnesota over 76ers 125-102
By Sarita Kelly
J.J. Barea scored a game-high 22 points off the bench to help the Minnesota Timberwolves win 125-102 against the Philadelphia 76ers Wednesday night.
Oct 23, 2013; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Minnesota Timberwolves guard
Jose Barea(11) is defended by Philadelphia 76ers guard
Evan Turner(12) during the second quarter at Wells Fargo Center. Mandatory Credit: Howard Smith-USA TODAY Sports
Barea led the Wolves’ reserve unit, which scored 85 points of the 125. Center Ronny Turiaf dominated with 12 rebounds and guard A.J. Price also had a good night with 10 points and five assists.
Kevin Love didn’t fair too bad either for a limited appearance, he scored 19 points and six rebounds. Ricky Rubio and Nikola Pekovic’s appearance came only in the first half. Rubio managed 5 rebounds and 5 assists with 2 points while Pekovic scored 4 points and had 1 rebound and 1 assist.
While we held the unfortunate title of the NBA’s worst 3-point shooting team last season, the Wolves had little trouble from the 3 point line Wednesday night. Love, Barea and Kevin Martin were a combined 10-of-16 to bolster the Wolves’ 3-point percentage to 51.7 (15-of-29).
Robbie Hummel had a rough shooting outing. In a team-leading 25 minutes, he converted one of his nine shots. But Hummel is in a tight battle with Price, Othyus Jeffers and Lorenzo Brown for one of the final spots on the Wolves’ roster.
Forward Dante Cunningham got himself ejected with a pair of technical fouls in the third quarter. Philadelphia’s Tony Wroten followed suit a short while later, also getting ejected.
The Philadelphia 76ers James Anderson scored 23 points, while point guard Michael Carter-Williams, the team’s 11th overall pick in the 2013 draft, added 15. Evan Turner had 11 points and 10 rebounds.
And Minnesota native Royce White scored 5 points with six rebounds and 1 assist.
There is no rest for the as they wrap up their preseason on Thursday night against the Detroit Pistons.