• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Foye has huge fourth quarter as Timberwolves top Kings

Mar 22, 2007 - 5:56 AM SACRAMENTO, California (Ticker) -- Rookie Randy Foye helped the Minnesota Timberwolves hang on to their sliding playoff hopes.

Foye scored 14 of his 24 points in the fourth quarter and Kevin Garnett added 17 and 18 rebounds as the Timberwolves snapped an 11-game road losing streak with a 95-89 victory over the Sacramento Kings.

Despite notching just their second win in their last seven games, the Timberwolves (29-38) remain 2 1/2 games behind the eighth-place Los Angeles Clippers (32-36) for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference.

"It's just a win. We've talked about it, we just have to worry about winning," Minnesota interim coach Randy Wittman said. "But anytime in the NBA you win on the road, it's nice. We had lost 11 in a row. I brought that up to our guys this morning. It's time for us to hitch up our pants and end this thing."

Minnesota has struggled all season to find a consistent second option to All-Star forward Garnett. Foye stepped up and was that option against Sacramento, shooting 9-of-12 from the field and 6-of-6 from the free-throw line.

"I told coach I felt good tonight during warmups," Foye said. "When I was practicing shooting the ball, I made so many in a row I just stopped."

Trailing by three points with 34 seconds left, the Kings needed a defensive stop to have a chance. Foye then hit the biggest shot of the game, driving off Garnett's screen and nailing a 20-footer to make it 92-87 with 17 seconds remaining.

"(Foye's) going to be something special in this league," Garnett said. "He works tremendously hard. He's a great talent. Hopefully, he'll build on (this performance) and become the player he can definitely be.

"He has a lot of confidence in himself. He displayed that tonight. He has ice water in his veins at times. He's silky smooth and hits those jump shots. I just had to set him a solid pick."

Sacramento (29-39) has lost seven of its last eight games and now is three games back of the Clippers for the final playoff spot in the West.

Mike Bibby scored 23 points and Corliss Williamson added 17 and 10 rebounds for the Kings, who played without center Brad Miller (foot) and forward Kenny Thomas (toe).

"We're shorthanded without Thomas and Miller, and then Kevin (Martin) was unable to go through shootaround today because he was sick," Sacramento coach Eric Musselman said. "I thought Shareef (Abdur-Rahim) and Corliss played a lot of minutes and they played hard, but we came up short."