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Davis' big fourth quarter helps Wolves end three-game slide

Dec 4, 2006 - 1:53 AM PHILADELPHIA (Ticker) -- Ricky Davis saved the Minnesota Timberwolves from a sloppy finish.

In a turnover-heavy game, Davis scored 14 of his 22 points in the fourth quarter and Mike James added 20 and six assists as the Timberwolves snapped a three-game losing streak with a 95-84 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers, who endured their fourth straight loss.

Kevin Garnett collected 15 points, 14 rebounds and six assists for Minnesota, which survived a season-high 24 turnovers. Garnett tied his own club record by reaching double figures in points in 338 consecutive games.

"I just came out shooting the ball good," Davis said of his fourth-quarter effort. "The guys found me and I just got open looks. It's big when somebody plays big in the fourth. It's what we needed."

The Wolves entered the fourth quarter with a 68-65 edge, even though they had committed 20 turnovers.

But Davis took control, scoring seven straight points for Minnesota to extend the margin to 75-67 with 10:08 left. Four minutes later, Davis converted a three-point play, found James for a 3-pointer and drilled consecutive jumpers for a 90-79 cushion with 1:38 to go.

"I still don't know how we won the game with 25 turnovers on the road and as sloppy as we played throughout the game," Wolves coach Dwane Casey said. "We have to get better with our offensive execution; passing the basketball and doing a better job of executing our offensive sets.

"He (Davis) did a good of spacing the floor and found his shooting touch," Casey said. "He and Mike both did the job of knocking down open shots." Rookie Randy Foye, who attended college at Villanova, made his return to Philadelphia, scoring eight points and dishing out four assists in 22 minutes.

"It feels good to be back here and to play in front of all the fans," Foye said. "I knew everyone was coming to the game so I was looking forward to going out there and them cheering when I got in the game."

Allen Iverson scored 26 points and handed out seven assists and Samuel Dalembert added 15 and nine boards for the Sixers, who committed 17 turnovers.

"They were just playing better than us," Iverson said. "We didn't match their intensity. There is no excuse for that. We are at home. We are supposed to have that intensity. We are supposed to have the momentum. They just outplayed us."

"Our effort out on the floor wasn't good enough," Philadelphia coach Maurice Cheeks said. "It wasn't that we didn't play with any effort. It just wasn't good enough. We played nip-and-tuck, nip-and-tuck."