AUBURN HILLS, Mich. -- Here were the bumbling Timberwolves on Sunday night, drunk on scoring and stifling the Pistons with recently acquired superstar Allen Iverson, to the chagrin of Detroit fans pining for the jettisoned Chauncey Billups.
The Wolves -- searching for their first road victory of the season, a team that could not find the basket with radar in its Friday blowout loss to Boston, one starving for momentum -- managed to open a 24-point third-quarter lead on the Pistons at the Palace of Auburn Hills. And in a season defined by crushing fourth-quarter collapses, Minnesota defied history by closing out one of the NBA's toughest and most experienced opponents, sending the majority of the sellout crowd of 22,076 to the exits with six minutes remaining.
How's this for a Monday morning surprise: Wolves 106, Pistons 80.
Forty-eight hours after shooting a paltry 31 percent in a 95-78 loss to the Celtics, the Wolves torched the Pistons with a 53 percent performance from the field that featured three-pointers on 7 of 11 attempts (63.6 percent).
"To come back from 31 percent shooting, two days later, 53 percent -- funny game sometimes," coach Randy Wittman said.
Downright hilarious, considering the uncharacteristic way the Wolves -- who entered play ranked 26th and 29th, respectively, in field-goal percentage and three-point shooting -- dismantled a Detroit team that has qualified for six straight Eastern Conference finals.
Randy Foye, struggling for weeks to find his shooting touch, lit it up with 23 points and was 9 for 12 from the field. He also handed out 14 assists in his finest game of the season.
Ryan Gomes added a season-high 20 points, and Al Jefferson scored 19 points as the Wolves were superlative in every category.
"Wins for us right now are all good," guard Mike Miller said. "But when you come into Detroit, you expect a tough game. To get a win like this here makes it a lot easier for us."
All of it stood in stark contrast to Friday, when the Wolves scored 10 points in the third quarter and rolled over against Boston. Sunday, they took a 76-52 lead into the fourth and padded it by the final horn.
The Pistons (8-5) played eight of their first 12 games on the road and were hoping to gain traction by opening a four-game homestand against lowly Minnesota (3-9) while assimilating Iverson into their scheme.
But nothing went right for Detroit, which had only two players reach double figures in scoring, led by Tayshaun Prince's 20 points.
"We caught them on an off night," Wittman said. "But our defense was pretty solid right from the beginning."
Minnesota took the lead for good 17-16 with two minutes, 26 seconds remaining in the first quarter and stepped on the accelerator.
The Wolves shot 59 percent in the opening 12 minutes while Detroit managed only six field goals and turned over the ball four times.
It was a strong opening statement by the Wolves, especially after their offensive no-show against the Celtics.
"We knew we had to move the ball and make them rotate, and that's what we did tonight," Gomes said.
Defensively, the Wolves neutered Rasheed Wallace (3 for 10), Richard Hamilton (2 for 11) and Iverson (3 for 11) as the Pistons shot 28.2 percent in the first half.
"It's on us," Iverson said. "Besides Tayshaun and Max (Jason Maxiell), nobody could throw a rock into the ocean."
The Wolves, searching for their first winning streak of 2008-09, return home to play the Phoenix Suns on Wednesday night.
"It's huge," Gomes said about the victory. "Now we've got to get two in a row."
