MINNEAPOLIS -- The shots were clanking and the frustration was mounting for J.J. Barea during a three-game shooting slump that was getting him booed off his home court with regularity. With the lowly Milwaukee Bucks hitting everything in sight, Minnesota coach Rick Adelman gave Barea some time with the Ricky Rubio in the same backcourt, and the throwback lineup helped jumpstart Barea and the Minnesota Timberwolves. Kevin Love had 27 points, 10 rebounds and six assists and Barea scored 19 points to lift the Timberwolves to a 112-101 victory over the Bucks on Tuesday night. After going 5 for his previous 25, Barea hit seven of 10 shots to help wake up the sluggish Wolves and Kevin Martin scored 26 points to help them finish a four-game homestand at 2-2. After carving a niche for himself in this league as a helter-skelter, mini-shooting guard who thrives when playing alongside a bigger point guard, roster limitations have forced Adelman to play Barea as a more prototypical backup point guard this season. But Milwaukee plays a smaller backcourt, which allowed Adelman the chance to pair Barea and Rubio. "I love it. I miss it," Barea said. "I miss playing off the ball a little bit, especially with Ricky. When Im making shots, its great for our team." Brandon Knight scored 21 points for the Bucks (13-51), who led at halftime and were looking for their first set of back-to-back victories this season. But after scoring 61 points in the first half and leading by 11 points in the second quarter, the Bucks were outscored 19-4 to start the fourth quarter. "Fourth quarter, we couldnt really get anything going," said Bucks guard Nate Wolters, who had 14 points. "Weve had problems all year in the fourth quarter closing games. We gave ourselves a chance to win, having a lead going into the fourth, but just couldnt get it going and win." Rubio had 11 points and 10 assists and three steals for Minnesota. "J.J.s a great scorer and sometimes he needs to play the (shooting guard)," Rubio said. "But its hard to do it when they have a (big) two. But I like playing with him. He made shots today and he played a lot." The Timberwolves scored 30 points off of 15 turnovers by Milwaukee to offset some porous defence that allowed the Bucks to shoot 52.7 per cent. They trailed by six points at halftime, but Love and Dante Cunningham fueled the game-clinching run with a flurry of jumpers that pushed the lead to 105-88. "There was no pace and we let them get defensive stops," said Bucks forward ZaZa Pachulia, who had a career-high 10 assists with nine points and six rebounds. "They are one of the best teams in transition and they got out in front of us and got easy buckets in transition. We just werent able to get back." The Wolves (32-31) entered the game five games behind Memphis for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference. In all likelihood, they kicked away their chance to make the post-season for the first time in 10 years with losses to the Knicks and Raptors earlier in this homestand. A loss to the worst team in the league at home surely would have ended any slim hopes that remained. The Bucks have been playing better basketball, at least offensively, since a trade last month brought Ramon Sessions and Adrien from Charlotte and sent disgruntled guard Gary Neal to the Bobcats. Even so, they were playing the second night of a back-to-back while the Wolves were playing their fourth straight game at home. The Bucks also were missing starting power forward Ersan Ilyasova because of a sore ankle. But as the Timberwolves have done all year long, they delivered a listless defensive effort to give their opponent life it had no business having. Milwaukee made its first 12 shots, the longest streak without a miss to open a game in the league this season, and shot over 71 per cent in the first quarter to jump out to a 33-22 lead. Barea made his first six shots in the second quarter, including a layup that tied the game at 49. NOTES: Wolters, from nearby St. Cloud, Minn., had a large contingent of fans who came both from his hometown and from South Dakota. Wolters starred in college at South Dakota State. ... Timberwolves F Luc Richard Mbah a Moute hosted a dozen young fans from the south of France. The fans made plans to travel to the U.S. to see him play for Sacramento against New York. But Mbah a Moute was traded to Minnesota in December, so he picked up the tab to change their flights. . Seth Smith hit a towering drive for a tying homer leading off the eighth and Chris Denorfia singled home two runs to give the Padres a 3-1 victory against the rival Dodgers in baseballs North American opener Sunday night. . -- Josh Smith made a 3-pointer as time expired and finished with 20 points to lift the Detroit Pistons to a 99-98 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Thursday night in both teams exhibition finale.
http://www.cheapraptorsjerseysauthentic ... aka-jersey. Ramon, 30, played in a career-high 97 games with the Goldeyes in 2013. He also matched a career-high eight home runs and posted 52 RBI. . - Houston defensive end J. . -- The Golden State Warriors and Houston Rockets will forever be tied together for making the same spectacular misjudgment on budding NBA sensation Jeremy Lin.Chris Gayle and Mahela Jayawardena have been named in Somersets squad for the NatWest T20 Blast clash with Sussex on Wednesday. Gayle and Jayawardena, two of the most exciting players in Twenty20 history, will show off their talents in front of the Sky Sports cameras at the 1st Central County Ground in Hove.West Indies opener Gayle had a short stint with the county last summer and produced one of the most memorable innings of the season when he smashed an unbeaten 151 off 62 balls against Kent, a game Somerset went on to lose by three runs chasing 228. Jayawardena, who previously played for Sussex, was employed by England as a batting consultant during the World Twenty20 and also acted as part of Sky Sports coverage of the Indian Premier League.Somerset lost their opening T20 Blast game of the season on May 20, with Kent again coming out on top in a high-scoring affair in Canterbury.But they have since produced a superb lower-order batting display to beat Surrey in the Specsavers County Championship and T20 captain Jim Allenby hopes they can continue that momentum on Wednesday. Chris Gayle will be back in Somerset colours on Wednesday After our exciting victory over Surrey we are looking forward to some more wins and singing the Blackbird song, which is why we play cricket, Alleenby told Somersets website.ddddddddddddIts very exciting to get back into the T20 Blast after a couple of weeks in the County Championship. This has given us time to reflect on what we did well and maybe not so well at Canterbury in our first game.We batted well at Kent but were maybe 20 runs light. They came out all guns blazing and I think that is the modern way in T20 now, so there are going to be some big scores, which is fantastic because its a great game to watch and to play. We cant wait to have Mahela and Chris joining us this week and its really exciting to have these guys joining a squad which is already a strong group of players. Mahela Jayawardena makes his Somerset debut against a Sussex side he played for in 2015 Get a Sky Sports Day Pass Dont miss Sussex v Somerset. Watch live on NOW TV for ￡6.99. No contract Also See: WATCH: Top Blast moments Live cricket on Sky WATCH: The Blast is back! Get Sky Sports ' ' '
