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Budinger helps Timberwolves rally past Nets

Nov 6, 2012 - 6:39 AM Brooklyn, NY (Sports Network) - Chase Budinger scored 14 of his 16 points in the second half as the Minnesota Timberwolves handed the Brooklyn Nets their first loss at the Barclays Center with a 107-96 come-from-behind victory.

Nikola Pekovic poured in a game-high 21 points, while Andrei Kirilenko recorded 16 points, 10 rebounds and six assists to help the Timberwolves overcome a 22-point third-quarter deficit and improve to 2-1 without injured stars Kevin Love and Ricky Rubio.

Minnesota outscored the Nets by a whopping 58-25 margin over the final 20 minutes and finished the game on an 11-0 run to spoil Brooklyn's second regular-season game at its brand new facility.

"We just kept talking about getting tougher down the stretch," Timberwolves coach Rick Adelman said of the team's second-half turnaround. "We had to get stops in that fourth quarter. We played with a real edge in that fourth quarter and it just turned the whole thing around."

The Nets went just 13-of-41 (33.3 percent) from the field in the second half and mustered a mere 10 points during the fourth quarter.

Joe Johnson had 19 points and Deron Williams amassed 18 points and 13 assists for the new-look Nets, who christened their arrival in Brooklyn with a 107-100 home win over Toronto on Saturday.

The Timberwolves trailed 71-49 three minutes into the second half and were facing a 19-point deficit midway through the third quarter before taking control of the game. Budinger netted six points during a 13-5 run that closed the gap to 84-73 late in the period, and Minnesota dominated the early stages of the fourth quarter to forge ahead for the first time since the opening moments.

Down 92-84 with under eight minutes left, Budinger and Alexey Shved knocked down back-to-back 3-pointers and Dante Cunningham hit a jumper to pull Minnesota even near the halfway mark of the final quarter.

The teams would remain tied at 96-96 when Shved's floater with 2:35 left put the Timberwolves ahead. Pekovic, saddled with foul trouble for much of the night, scored around a minute later to make it a four-point game, before Budinger delivered the dagger by sinking a trey with 38.9 seconds to go for a 103-96 lead.

"We should be able to put teams away and keep them at distance, not give up a 20-point lead," Williams admitted. "It's definitely disappointing, definitely embarrassing, given who they are missing."

Brooklyn held a slim 29-27 edge near the end of the first quarter, but controlled the tempo all throughout the second to go into halftime with a seemingly comfortable 62-47 advantage.

MarShon Brooks scored the final four points of a 9-1 run that put the Nets ahead by a 38-28 count three minutes into the period, and a 8-0 tear capped by 3-pointers from C.J. Watson and Johnson later on pushed the margin to 59-43 heading into the final minute of the half.

Minnesota would close to within 12 on a Luke Ridnour triple followed by 1-of-2 free throws from the veteran guard, but Brooklyn's Mirza Teletovic buried a fastbreak basket from beyond the arc to enable the Nets to enter the break up 62-47.

Brooklyn shot 59.5 percent and sank 8-of-13 three-point attempts over the first two quarters, with Johnson leading the way with 12 points.

The Nets remained hot after intermission, with Keith Bogans knocking down a 3- pointer to open the third quarter and Williams draining a pair of long-range jumpers shortly afterward to stake the hosts to a 71-49 lead.

Game Notes

The Timberwolves finished with a 47-35 advantage in bench points ... Minnesota has now prevailed in six of its last seven matchups with the Nets ... Shved, who tallied a career-best 10 points off the bench, and Kirilenko were teammates for CSKA Moscow last season, a team that was once owned by Brooklyn owner Mikhail Prokhorov ... Bogans started in place of Gerald Wallace, who was held out after spraining his left ankle in the Nets' season opener. Forward Josh Childress was also inactive for Brooklyn due to an ankle injury.