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Wizards and Wolves collide in nation's capital

Mar 5, 2011 - 3:50 PM (Sports Network) - Washington plans to have its head coach back on the sidelines tonight when the club attempts to salvage the finale of a four-game homestand against the Minnesota Timberwolves.

With Flip Saunders, a University of Minnesota product that coached the Wolves from 1995-2005, away tending to his ailing mother the Wizards fell to 0-3 on their residency Wednesday when Stephen Curry scored 29 points, grabbed nine rebounds and dished out five assists, as the Golden State Warriors stopped a four-game slide by topping Washington, 106-102.

Kay Saunders, 90, died Friday morning in suburban Cleveland but the Washington Post reported that Flip would coach tonight and then will miss the team's game at Detroit on Sunday in order to attend his mother's wake and funeral.

"She was an unbelievable fan of the NBA," Saunders told the Post when asked about his mother. "If I wanted to know more about the NBA, I called her, because she watched all day. She watched NBATV. She knew everything that was going on."

Nick Young posted 31 points for the Wizards against the Warriors, but missed a potential game-tying three-pointer in the final seconds. Andray Blatche had 20 points, nine boards and six assists in the Wizards' seventh straight loss.

"We fought hard, we just came up short," Young said.

John Wall ended with 14 points and six assists for Washington and Josh Howard contributed 13 points.

"To fight back and have a shot to tie it is a credit to them, but we can't afford to dig ourselves a hole," said Randy Wittman, who served as acting head coach.

The Wolves, meanwhile, fell to 1-1 on a three-game road trip on Friday in Philadelphia when Andre Iguodola collected his second triple-double of the season and sixth of his career with 22 points, 10 rebounds and 13 assists to lead the Sixers to a 111-100 victory over Minnesota.

Kevin Love extended his single-season record to 49 straight double-doubles with 21 points and 23 boards -- his 10th 20-20 game of the season -- but the Timberwolves dropped to 5-26 overall on the road.

Rookie Nikola Pekovic supplied a career-high 16 points and Anthony Randolph chipped in with 12 in a reserve role as the visitors fell for the ninth time in their last 11 games. Minnesota guard Wesley Johnson missed the game with gastroenteritis.

"We didn't lock in our defense and we stopped moving the basketball," lamented Minnesota head coach Kurt Rambis. "They swung things in their favor and we couldn't find a way to just get stops at the end of the ball game."

Love is now just two games shy from matching Hall of Famer Moses Malone's all- time record for consecutive double-doubles set from Dec. 29, 1978-Oct. 12, 1979.

Home cooking has traditionally meant a lot in this series with the host taking 12 of the past 14 meetings. Washington has won six straight over the Wolves in D.C.