Notebook: Timberwolves 92, Sixers 91

By Phil Miller, for NBA.com

THE FACTS: Minnesota forward Kevin Love shook off a terrible start to score 12 fourth-quarter points, including the game-winning free throws with one-tenth of a second remaining, and the Timberwolves won their third straight game, beating Philadelphia 92-91 in Minneapolis.

Jrue Holiday led the 76ers with 20 points, but first-place Philadelphia extended its losing streak to three games for the first time this season.

Love missed 13 of his first 15 shots, but helped carry Minnesota's offense at the end of a game that never had a margin larger than one point in the final 6:47. And after rebounding Sixers' guard Lou Williams' 20-footer with 3.6 seconds to play and the Wolves trailing 91-90, Love was given the opportunity to win the game after a timeout. He took the inbounds pass and muscled his way toward the basket, and with :00.1 on the clock, Sixers forward Andre Iguodala was whistled for a reach-in foul. Love made both to finish with 20 points and 15 rebounds and give Minnesota the lead, and the Wolves easily broke up Philadelphia's attempt at a desparation lob pass tip-in.

Ricky Rubio scored a career-high 22 points, and Nikola Pekovic added 17 for the Wolves.

QUOTABLE: "You just need one good quarter. I was the weakest link out there, but shooters keep shooting."
-- Wolves forward Kevin Love, who was 2-for-15 at one point before scoring 12 fourth-quarter points.

THE STAT: 0-5 -- Philadelphia's record in games decided by four points or less.

TURNING POINT: Two minutes into the fourth quarter, Kevin Love was 2-for-15 from the field, had not hit a basket since midway through the first period, and was growing frustrated. But when he squared up for a 16-footer with 9:48 to play, his problems suddenly faded away. The shot fell, and Love followed up with a jump-hook in the lane and a 20-footer on the Wolves' next two possessions, making both. He pumped his fist as he ran down the floor after the second one, and he powered Minnesota's offense the rest of the way, scoring 12 points in the quarter.

QUOTABLE II: "We are four stops away from 24 wins. We played four games like that and lost all four. We lost to Deron Williams, Chris Paul, Andre Miller and [Kevin Love] today. It's a shame."
-- Sixers coach Doug Collins, after his team fell to 20-12.

HOT: With his fellow starters combining to make just 3-of-14 first-quarter shots, rookie guard Ricky Rubio took it upon himself to provide enough offense to prevent Minnesota from falling into too deep of a hole. Philadelphia's defense sagged off the point guard, trusting their interior defense to keep him from the basket, but Rubio hit two layups, two 3-pointers and a running bank shot in the lane to score 14 first-quarter points. After tying his career-high with 18 points Friday in Houston, Rubio set a new one Sunday, finishing with 22 points -- his first 20-point game since Nov. 25, 2007, while with Joventut in the Spanish League -- to go with his five assists.

NOT: The 76ers as a whole -- they have now lost three straight games for the first time this season. Coach Collins fretted before the game that "I don't want our guys to lose the positive energy that we've had. We're a little mentally fatigued, and I just don't want that to creep into our guys." But they blew an 11-point first-half lead and lost for the fifth time in seven games.

FANTASY SPOTLIGHT: Philadelphia point guard Holiday made 1-of-17 shots in his previous two games, but coach Collins said he wanted Holiday to be more aggressive and look for his shot more, fearing that the responsibility of getting his teammates involved was making him hesitant. Holiday responded with a 20-point game, going 10-for-20 from the field, and Collins said afterward he told Holiday that's the approach he wants to see in the season's second half.

GOOD MOVE: The Wolves have a tendency to lose focus for stretches, especially early in quarters, coach Rick Adelman said. So when Martell Webster's lazy pass was picked off by Lou Williams one minute into the fourth quarter, and J.J. Barea was the lone Timberwolf to chase the resulting fast break -- Williams missed a layup, but with no rebounders there, Thaddeus Young dunked it home -- Adelman angrily called time. "We play without thinking. I needed to wake them up," Adelman said, and Minnesota never trailed by more than six points again.

BAD MOVE: Young was trying to stay in front of Love on Minnesota's final possession, and Elton Brand was ready to rotate to the basket once Love got a step on him. But Iguodala, assigned to guard Rubio in the corner, spun and slapped at the basketball as Love drove past, catching him across the arm for a foul that sent Love to the line for the game-winning free throws.

ROOKIE WATCH: Philadelphia's rookie centers, Lavoy Allen and Nikola Vucevic, did a credible job of filling Spencer Hawes' position Sunday, combining to score 14 points and gather 12 rebounds with three blocked shots. But the Sixers still fell to 8-10 without Hawes, whose strained left achilles has kept him out of all but two games since Jan. 16.

NOTABLE: J.J. Barea returned to Minnesota's lineup after missing Friday's victory in Houston to be with his girlfriend, former Miss Universe Zulekya Rivera, as she delivered the couple's first child, a son named Sebastian. Barea scored 14 points on six baskets, none of them from farther than 10 feet away. ... Nikola Pekovic collected five offensive rebounds (and nine total) for the fifth straight game, tying the longest such streak in franchise history. He has three or more offensive board in his last 15 games. Pekovic scored 17 points and just missed his fifth consecutive double-double. ... Lou Williams may be the Sixers' leading scorer at 16.0 points per game, but he took only three shots before halftime, making one. He finished with 13 points on 5-of-12 shooting. ... Wolves center Darko Milicic dressed for the first time in a week, and played exactly one-tenth of a second. He was inserted into the game for the final play, when the Sixers tried a tip-in play that Milicic knocked away.

UP NEXT: For the 76ers, Tuesday @ Memphis, Wednesday @ Houston, Feb. 28 @ Detroit. For the Timberwolves, Monday @ Denver, Wednesday vs. Jazz, Feb. 28 @ L.A. Clippers.