MINNEAPOLIS (AP)—The minutes have been somewhat hard to come by for Randy Foye early in his rookie season.
The lottery pick from Villanova patiently waited for Timberwolves coach Dwane Casey to do what his college coach did so often—give him the ball and turn him loose.
He finally got his chance on Saturday night against the Los Angeles Clippers, and boy did he make the most of it.
Foye scored 14 of his 15 points in the fourth quarter, rallying Minnesota to a thrilling 104-96 victory over the Clippers.
Foye had scored just 14 points in his previous five games, but was by far the best player on the court when it counted on Saturday night.
“I’ve been kind of waiting for this,” Foye said. “I just wanted the chance to do what I did in college, have the ball in my hands and make plays.”
Kevin Garnett added 25 points and 10 rebounds for the Wolves, who trailed by as many as 16 in the third quarter thanks to a torrid start from former teammate Sam Cassell.
Cassell scored 28 points in the first 36 minutes, but Ricky Davis shut him down in the final period, holding him to three points on 1-of-5 shooting.
Foye opened the fourth with a 3-pointer and a pretty, swooping layup in traffic, then added another 3 with 4:49 to play to cut the Clippers’ lead to 94-88.
But his best play may have come on the next possession, when he tracked down a loose ball in the corner and was surrounded by two defenders. Foye made a leaping skip pass to Davis, who then found Marko Jaric for a 3-pointer that made it 94-91.
The Wolves took their first lead of the game with 2:46 to play, when Mark Blount fed Garnett for a layup that made the score 96-94, whipping the crowd into a frenzy.
Foye punctuated the night with a monstrous breakaway dunk just before the buzzer, and the youngster hung on the rim and did a pullup as he was mobbed by his teammates.
“I think you saw a young man, Randy Foye, grow up tonight and become the player we knew we drafted,” Casey said. “He showed some stuff tonight.”
The jaw-dropping performance stole the show from Cassell, who was dominant for the first three periods.
Before the game, Cassell insisted that he holds no grudges against basketball boss Kevin McHale or owner Glen Taylor for trading him and a No. 1 draft choice to the Clippers for Jaric before last season.
But it was also clear he was looking forward to this one after receiving much of the blame for Minnesota’s fall from Western Conference finalist in 2004 to missing the playoffs the following season.
“To blame me for our faults after I helped us get to the Western Conference finals?” Cassell said, shaking his head. “They tried to drag my name through the mud … but I’m over it right now. I’m not bitter at no one.”
Cassell jumped on Minnesota right out of the gates on Saturday night, scoring 12 points in the first quarter, including six straight during an 8-0 run that helped the Clippers take a nine-point lead after one.
But while he has earned a reputation as one of the better clutch players in the league over his career, Cassell didn’t have anything left in the tank when Foye and the Wolves made their run.
After going 13-for-19 in the first three quarters, Cassell was just 1-for-5 over the final 12 minutes.
His last basket came on a 3-pointer with just over 5 minutes to go that made the score 94-85, but the Wolves closed the game with an astounding 19-2 run to win their third game in a row.
“I want to win everywhere. I try to play my heart out everywhere,” Cassell said. “It’s a loss. We’re 6-5 now. We haven’t yet won on the road, so we’ve got to try to put together some road wins, but we’re all right.”
Elton Brand had 21 points and 10 rebounds and Cory Maggette added 18 points for the Clippers, who played without their second-leading rebounder. Chris Kaman sprained his left ankle in practice on Friday and was deactivated.
“We’re a confident team,” Cassell said. “We understand we let this one slip through our hands, but we’ve got to find a way to win this kind of game.”
Notes
Kaman’s status is listed as day-to-day. … Davis was issued a technical foul from Olandis Poole after he argued a foul call with 7:38 to play.
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