Melo, Lopez help Knicks snap 7-game skid with W over Wolves

It was an exciting fourth quarter with both teams trading baskets and Minnesota eventually winning the quarter, but their comeback fell short as they lost the game 107-102.

It might have been one of relief. Despite a couple of solid comeback efforts, Carmelo Anthony and Robin Lopez were too much for the Wolves to overcome as the Knicks snapped a seven-game losing streak with a 103-95 victory. His total now stands at 22,008.

It doesn’t matter how good a rookie is in the National Basketball Association, they’re always going to get the rookie treatment from other players on the roster. “Now the job is to attach two in a row, three in a row, get something rolling”. Forward Shabazz Muhammad scored 20 off the bench.

“We didn’t play aggressive until the last quarter”, said Ricky Rubio, who had nine points and 16 assists.

“We’re 100 percent the Brooklyn Nets now”, Lopez said.

“We have to believe in what we have right now”, said Carmelo Anthony.

In their second and final meeting of the regular season, the Minnesota Timberwolves try to get a win over the New York Knicks when they clash at the Target Center for the National Basketball Association’s regular season.

The Knicks are 0-7 this year without their All-Star, including a January 13th loss at Barclays that Melo said NY “could’ve, should’ve won”. The Knicks (24-33) rebounded from Friday night’s disappointing and demoralizing loss to the Nets, jumped on the Timberwolves early and led wire-to-wire. “We weren’t putting our hands on them; we weren’t physical. It’s an old story that’s happening again”, he said.

Brook Lopez for the Nets led the way with 33 points on 13-for-23 from the field, with eight rebounds and two assists. He’s averaging a double-double on the season with 17.1 points and 10.2 rebounds. Brook Lopez leads in points with 20.2 and in blocks with 1.8 per game.

He was able to do it against a team that was lacking inside depth with forwards Kevin Garnett and Nemanja Bjelica and center Nikola Pekovic out with injuries. Atlanta guard Kyle Korver hit a pair of 3-pointers to open the fourth, and Millsap hit an inside bucket that put the Hawks ahead 82-81 lead with seven minutes left in regulation.

“I’m a competitive individual”, he said. “It was just me not being smart enough”. Especially Dieng, who played 44 minutes Friday. Mitchell expects the rookie to get more minutes the rest of the season to see how he reacts…. Before the Knicks can even think about becoming a playoff team they need to upgrade at the point guard position.

The Minnesota Timberwolves had the most successful NBA All-Star weekend in league history, so you bet the team milked every opportunity to mention the accolades Saturday. Wiggins scored 29 points in the Rising Stars game, LaVine won MVP of that game and his second straight dunk contest and Towns won the Skills Challenge….