Apr 5, 2013; Minneapolis, MN, USA; Minnesota Timberwolves center Nikola Pekovic (14) goes up for a layup past Toronto Raptors power forward Amir Johnson (15) and Toronto Raptors center Jonas Valanciunas (17) in first half at Target Center. Mandatory Credit: Jesse Johnson-USA TODAY Sports

The Wolves fall short. The Wolves couldn’t quite hang on for their 3^rd straight win as they fell to the Toronto Raptors 95-93. Rick Adelman will have to wait for the Detroit game on Saturday. With the Wolves trailing 94-92 and 1.7 seconds left in the game, Ricky Rubio was at the free throw line. Rubio hit the first of the 2 free throws making it 93-94. On the 2^nd of the 2 free throws Rubio’s attempt rattled in and out of the hoop and the Raptors controlled the rebound and went on to win 95-93.

The Wolves were done in by the Raptors back court/wings. Rudy Gay had a game high 26 points on the night, Demar DeRozen finished the night with 25 points and Kyle Lowery had 11 points. Also in double figures for the Raptors was Johan Valanciunas who finished the night with 12 points. For the night the Raptors finished with 47% from the field, and went 11-16 from the free throw line.

The Wolves on the other hand went 30-40 from the free throw line. Each team struggled from 3 point range, the Wolves finished the night shooting 20% and the Raptors shot 27% from 3. The Wolves on the night shot 45% from the floor and were led in scoring by Nikola Pekovic, who had 24 points. Andrei Kirilenko had a great game posting a final line of 20 points on 80% shooting, 6 rebounds and 3 steals.

The Wolves next opportunity to get Rick Adelman’s 1000^th career win will be at The Target Center   against the Detroit Pistons Saturday with a 7 pm tip.

Mar 27, 2013; Toronto, ON, Canada; Toronto Raptors forward Rudy Gay (22) reacts a to a call against the Atlanta Hawks at the Air Canada Centre. The Hawks beat the Raptors 107-88. Mandatory Credit: Tom Szczerbowski-USA TODAY Sports

Last time the Wolves and Raptors faced off was November 4th. The Wolves committed 24 turnovers and lost 86-105 at the Air Canada Centre. Brandon Roy started at shooting guard (had 5 of the 24 turnovers) beside Luke Ridnour as the Wolves backcourt let Kyle Lowry, DeMar DeRozan and Alan Anderson go off for 22, 22 and 18, respectively.

A lot has happened to both squads since then. Jose Calderon came on and eclipsed Lowry’s playing time for a large chunk of the season before eventually being dealt with Ed Davis in a package that landed Calderon in Detroit, Davis in Memphis, while the Raptors won the Rudy Gay sweepstakes.

For the Wolves, watching Roy struggles the last time the Wolves played Toronto was one of the first wake up calls in a season full of rude awakenings. The following night they weathered a barrage of 3s from the Brooklyn Nets as Alexey Shved turned in the first performance of a “hey, just what do we have here?” stretch — he had 2 3s, 4 assists and some inspired defense on the Nets Deron Williams as the Wolves outscored the Nets 32-10 in the 4th quarter of a 107-96 victory at the Barclays Center. The Wolves followed up that comeback with a win at Orlando and a last-second win over Indiana before losing Chase Budinger and his torn meniscus (not to mention the game to the Bulls) in Chicago.

The loss in Toronto was the base of a pretty nice peak whose summit was that win against Indiana, arguably the (non-Rubio) highlight of the season.

Raptors probable starting lineup:

PG Kyle Lowry

SG DeMar DeRozan

SF Rudy Gay

PF Amir Johnson

C Jonas Valanciunas

Gay shot 38% in his first and 43% in his second month as a Toronto Raptor, scoring 20 and 18 points a game in each of those months while getting to the line 5 and 4 times a game. Efficiency, thy name is Rudy Gay.

Valanciunas is averaging 18 points, 9 rebounds and 3 blocks a game on 61% shooting (82% on 8 free throws a game) over his last 5 games.

Wolves probable starting lineup:

PG Ricky Rubio

SG Luke Ridnour

SF Andrei Kirilenko

PF Derrick Williams

C Nikola Pekovic

Rubio went 5-5 from 3 in the first half (5-6 for the game) as he came out, guns blazing, against Brandon Jennings and the Bucks. He racked up 12 assists and 8 steals to go with his 8 turnovers. Rubio’s aggressiveness has served him and the Wolves well — he’s averaged 16 points, 9 assists, 4.6 rebounds, 3.6 steals over the 3-2 stretch for the Wolves.

The added outside threat helped give Pek space enough to maintain his recent tear — he missed only 3 shots, going 11-14 from the field en route to 27 points. With Kendrick Perkins, Chris Wilcox, Shavlik Randolph and Larry Sanders all laid to waste, Valanciunas’ skull is next to be collected.