A road defeat against one of the lowliest teams in the inferior Eastern Conference will be tough to stomach as Minnesota continues its season-long, six-game away swing.
But even more may have been lost Friday night at Orlando's Amway Center.
Ricky Rubio's injury late in the second quarter low-lighted a night in which the Timberwolves (2-3) had every chance to close out the Magic (2-4) in regulation. But after Kevin Martin missed a potential game-winner as the fourth-quarter buzzer sounded, Orlando outscored Minnesota 18-9 in overtime for the Magic's second win of the season.
1 big moment: Rubio sprained his ankle-- rolling it sideways -- driving to the basket against Willie Green with 2:28 left in the second quarter. He was helped to the locker room and didn't return; he couldn't have even if he were healthy, because Anthony Bennett came in to take his free throws. Rubio will be re-evaluated Saturday.
2 top performers: Center Gorgui Dieng had his first double-double of the year, scoring 11 points on 5 of 9 shooting and pulling down 10 rebounds. But rookie power forward Aaron Gordon came off the bench and stole the show with 17 points, the last three coming on a 3-pointer that made it 106-99 with 1:35 to go in overtime.
3 key stats: The Magic, whose only previous victory came against fellow East bottomfeeder Philadelphia, scored 20 points in the fourth quarter and 18 in the extra session. Minnesota, meanwhile, went 39 for 86 (45.3 percent) from the floor in regulation but shot 1 for 7 (14.3 percent) in overtime.
Orlando outrebounded the Wolves 52-38 and held them to seven second-chance points. Minnesota came in averaging 17.8 second-chance points, good for third in the NBA.
Until the Magic's 13-5 run to close overtime, neither team led by more than eight. The game saw 17 ties and 17 lead changes.
Said: "I didn't think we played with as much of a purpose tonight as we had been. No question, it was like somebody popped the balloon when Ricky got hurt. Ricky's been kind of the heart and soul and leader of our team, and when we got hurt, we just didn't have the same juice." -- Timberwolves coach and president of basketball operations Flip Saunders
Seen: Rubio came back out on crutches after undergoing X-rays in the Wolves' dressing room. Bennett spent almost the entire game on the bench; he is nursing a sore knee.
Next: Minnesota closes out a back-to-back in Florida with a 6:30 p.m. clash at Miami on Saturday. The Wolves went 1-1 against the Heat last year, including a 122-121, overtime win at American Airlines Arena that served as one of Minnesota's best 2013-14 performances.
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