MINNEAPOLIS -- Andrew Wiggins spun past Jordan Hamilton, leaving the Clippers defender on his back en route to an authoritative finish that was half layup, half "is that all you've got?" primacy. Twice, Zach LaVine flew past an unsuspecting Los Angeles defense in transition, soaring in for those dunks where he seems to re-elevate in mid-leap.
It was the kind of onslaught expected out of the Timberwolves' two pre-drinking-age rookies, perhaps not this quickly but certainly in this kind of abundance. The overarching results aren't there yet, but these young Wolves are starting to develop a bite.
"You know what, I'm taking this," Kevin Garnett, Minnesota's recently-acquired elder statesman, said after the Wolves erased an 18-point deficit in an eventual 110-105 loss Monday to the Clippers. "I like our fight.
"It sets a foundation to be very solid. And something to grow off of and build off of, and that's very promising."
Moral victories are hollow. So are out-of-fuel losses where a team makes one field goal the entire fourth quarter like the Wolves (13-46) did at the Target Center.
But there are conclusions to be drawn. And the most qualified observers at 600 First Avenue North liked what they saw when Wiggins and LaVine scored all the points in a 13-0 jaunt that brought Minnesota back from a 36-18 hole.
Play this game in December, coach and president of basketball operations Flip Saunders says, and it could've been 56-18. But instead of compounding issues, the Wolves -- even though they were without two starters -- tightened up their on-ball defense against Chris Paul, sent more bodies at the glass to compensate for DeAndre Jordan, and did enough to build a seven-point lead at one point.
"You're playing a well-coached, well-run team, and they're playing better than anybody," said Garnett, who had 10 points and three boards in his third appearance since Saunders traded for him at last weeks' deadline." When you take them to the point where they have to go into their bag and actually have to execute and stuff, it says a lot.
"I thought, at times, our immaturity showed. But it's promising. I'll take guys willing to fight and compete over anything else."
If only they'd had legs left to shoot in the fourth quarter.
For just the third time in franchise history, Minnesota was held to one shot -- on 14 attempts -- a Chase Budinger transition layup. The Wolves hung with Los Angeles (40-21) by going 16 for 17 from the free-throw line in the final frame, but Spencer Hawes' corner 3 at the 1 1/2-minute mark, Paul's scintillating, step-back jumper over Garnett with 38.3 seconds to go and a missed Gary Neal 3 that would've tied the game at 108 with 10 seconds left proved the difference.
"We ran out of gas," Saunders said.
In a season themed on hopeful harbingers, though, the latest defeat came with another sanguine realization of a bright future.
Wiggins attacked the rim ferociously, finishing with 18 points -- well on par with his 18.8 average during the past 32 games. Playing some extended minutes alongside dynamic point guard Ricky Rubio, LaVine had 14 points on 5-of-9 shooting off the bench -- his best offensive night since scoring 17 on Jan. 28 at Boston.
All after falling well behind against the Western Conference's No. 5 team.
"The more you play basketball and the more you've been around the league, that's the first thing you look at in guys," said Neal, who had his most points (16) in a Wolves uniform since coming here from Charlotte. "Everybody in here is talented . . . but you look to see if they're going to have that competitive edge every single night. For the Clippers to go up the way they did, and for us to fight back, that's a great sign."
Neal started at shooting guard in place of Kevin Martin, who stayed home with the flu. Center Nikola Pekovic missed another game with inflammation in his maligned right ankle.
The Wolves could've used Pekovic against Jordan (12 points, 18 rebounds), whose recent tear of 20-rebound nights has helped put him in defensive player of the year conversation. But the nagging injuries that continue to plague Pekovic's five-year career kept him out of a 32nd game this year.
Pekovic has missed at least 17 games in each of his NBA seasons. This most recent flare-up has him agonizingly perturbed, he said.
"He should be. I'm frustrated, too," said Saunders, who implicated the NBA's elongated All-Star break -- and consequently compacted stretch run of the season -- in Pekovic's most recent ailment. "I guess as a league, we've got to evaluate the All-Star break. You give those guys so much time off, then all of a sudden they're in a situation where they've got to go play four games in six days."
It wasn't Saunders' only source of frustration Monday in front of 18,239 fans. He and Clippers guard J.J. Redick received double technicals for jawing; Redick then said something else to the officials that earned him a second tech and an automatic ejection.
In a sometimes-chippy slugfest, Los Angeles picked up five technical fouls while Minnesota was whistled for two.
But while continuing to lose has a bitter flavor, the aftertaste allows for a more bearable finish.
"The future is bright," said Rubio, who tallied his fourth career triple-double with 18 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists, "but we can't wait any longer. We have to start winning now."
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