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MINNEAPOLIS -- The shots were clanking and the frustration was mounting for J. Kyle Wilber Jerseys .J. Barea during a three-game shooting slump that was getting him booed off his home court with regularity. With the lowly Milwaukee Bucks hitting everything in sight, Minnesota coach Rick Adelman gave Barea some time with the Ricky Rubio in the same backcourt, and the throwback lineup helped jumpstart Barea and the Minnesota Timberwolves. Kevin Love had 27 points, 10 rebounds and six assists and Barea scored 19 points to lift the Timberwolves to a 112-101 victory over the Bucks on Tuesday night. After going 5 for his previous 25, Barea hit seven of 10 shots to help wake up the sluggish Wolves and Kevin Martin scored 26 points to help them finish a four-game homestand at 2-2. After carving a niche for himself in this league as a helter-skelter, mini-shooting guard who thrives when playing alongside a bigger point guard, roster limitations have forced Adelman to play Barea as a more prototypical backup point guard this season. But Milwaukee plays a smaller backcourt, which allowed Adelman the chance to pair Barea and Rubio. "I love it. I miss it," Barea said. "I miss playing off the ball a little bit, especially with Ricky. When Im making shots, its great for our team." Brandon Knight scored 21 points for the Bucks (13-51), who led at halftime and were looking for their first set of back-to-back victories this season. But after scoring 61 points in the first half and leading by 11 points in the second quarter, the Bucks were outscored 19-4 to start the fourth quarter. "Fourth quarter, we couldnt really get anything going," said Bucks guard Nate Wolters, who had 14 points. "Weve had problems all year in the fourth quarter closing games. We gave ourselves a chance to win, having a lead going into the fourth, but just couldnt get it going and win." Rubio had 11 points and 10 assists and three steals for Minnesota. "J.J.s a great scorer and sometimes he needs to play the (shooting guard)," Rubio said. "But its hard to do it when they have a (big) two. But I like playing with him. He made shots today and he played a lot." The Timberwolves scored 30 points off of 15 turnovers by Milwaukee to offset some porous defence that allowed the Bucks to shoot 52.7 per cent. They trailed by six points at halftime, but Love and Dante Cunningham fueled the game-clinching run with a flurry of jumpers that pushed the lead to 105-88. "There was no pace and we let them get defensive stops," said Bucks forward ZaZa Pachulia, who had a career-high 10 assists with nine points and six rebounds. "They are one of the best teams in transition and they got out in front of us and got easy buckets in transition. We just werent able to get back." The Wolves (32-31) entered the game five games behind Memphis for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference. In all likelihood, they kicked away their chance to make the post-season for the first time in 10 years with losses to the Knicks and Raptors earlier in this homestand. A loss to the worst team in the league at home surely would have ended any slim hopes that remained. The Bucks have been playing better basketball, at least offensively, since a trade last month brought Ramon Sessions and Adrien from Charlotte and sent disgruntled guard Gary Neal to the Bobcats. Even so, they were playing the second night of a back-to-back while the Wolves were playing their fourth straight game at home. The Bucks also were missing starting power forward Ersan Ilyasova because of a sore ankle. But as the Timberwolves have done all year long, they delivered a listless defensive effort to give their opponent life it had no business having. Milwaukee made its first 12 shots, the longest streak without a miss to open a game in the league this season, and shot over 71 per cent in the first quarter to jump out to a 33-22 lead. Barea made his first six shots in the second quarter, including a layup that tied the game at 49. NOTES: Wolters, from nearby St. Cloud, Minn., had a large contingent of fans who came both from his hometown and from South Dakota. Wolters starred in college at South Dakota State. ... Timberwolves F Luc Richard Mbah a Moute hosted a dozen young fans from the south of France. The fans made plans to travel to the U.S. to see him play for Sacramento against New York. But Mbah a Moute was traded to Minnesota in December, so he picked up the tab to change their flights. Joseph Randle Jerseys . The Montreal Canadiens goaltenders dogs Motty ("short for Mozart") and Duke got loose overnight. Ernie Sims Jersey Dallas Cowboys . PAUL, Minn. AUBURN HILLS, Mich. -- Josh Smith was annoyed with himself earlier in the week, when his jumper with the game on the line missed badly and Detroit went on to lose to the New York Knicks. So when Smith had the ball in the final seconds again Saturday night, he went straight to the basket. "I wanted to be aggressive," Smith said. "When I caught it, I didnt want to settle." Smiths driving, left-handed bank shot with 1.2 seconds left gave the Pistons a 110-108 win over the Phoenix Suns on Saturday night. Smith finished with 25 points and 11 rebounds, and Brandon Jennings had 18 assists, the most in the NBA this season, to go with eight points and eight rebounds. Smith was involved in a few big plays in the final half-minute -- both good and bad. His 3-pointer as the shot clock expired put Detroit ahead 108-105 with 26.8 seconds left. Then he fouled Gerald Green while the Phoenix guard was shooting a 3-pointer. Green made all three free throws to tie it with 4.3 seconds remaining. The ensuing inbounds pass went to Smith near the top of the key. He drove to the right and then switched hands, making a tough shot while being tightly defended by Channing Frye. Greens 3-pointer at the buzzer from in front of the Detroit bench missed badly. "This is a great game for us, to be able to see how mentally strong we can be," Smith said. "Weve just got to be able to reflect on these games and apply it to the games that we have in front of us." Frye led Phoenix with 21 points. The Suns tied the game with a 13-3 run to start the fourth quarter, but Detroit responded with a 7-0 run. It was 105-97 before Phoenix scored eight straight points, tying it on a 3-pointer by P.J. Tucker with 51.2 seconds left. "We had one game this year where we came from 21 back, and we usually fight hard," Tucker said. The Pistons barely got a shot off on their next possession, but Smith was able to free himself on the left wing and connect from 3-point range. It was his first of two big shots at the end. "Those were two tough shots that Josh made," Suns coach Jeff Hornacek said. "We let him get to the basket at the end, but he was going in the wrong direction and still knoocked that down. Brandon Weeden Jerseys. Before that, we play great defence, they lose the ball and they manage to bat it out to him and he hits the 3. Thats just a bad break for us." Jennings equaled team records held by Isiah Thomas with 11 assists in the first quarter and 16 in the first half. But Jennings didnt have any points, rebounds or assists in the fourth quarter. Backup Will Bynum picked up the slack a bit, scoring eight of his 16 points in the final period. "Sometimes in those fourth quarters Brandon was alone out there as far as creating and thats kind of tough on him," Bynum said. "So when were out there we help him out a lot and that spreads the court out." Detroit has been a disappointment after signing Smith and trading for Jennings in the off-season, but those two looked sharp for most of the night Saturday. In the first quarter, the Pistons looked as smooth and cohesive as they have all season, repeatedly beating the transition-oriented Suns down the court for easy baskets. Jennings tossed an alley-oop off the backboard to Andre Drummond for a 12-3 lead, and later in the quarter his alley-oop to Smith gave him 10 assists. Jennings then found Kyle Singler for a dunk that made it 35-19. The Pistons finished the quarter with 16 assists on 17 field goals -- and a 35-21 lead. Even when Jennings shot an airball at the end of the second quarter Drummond was there to tip it in at the buzzer for a 64-51 lead. Detroit had 50 points in the paint in the first half. The Pistons finished with 68. The last player with 16 assists in a half was Jason Kidd, who did it April 5, 2009, for Dallas, according to STATS. That was also against Phoenix. The last player with at least 11 assists in a quarter was Steve Blake, who had 14 for Portland in 2009. Phoenix was without guard Eric Bledsoe, who had surgery Friday on his right knee. NOTES: Thomas had 16 assists in a half against Dallas on Feb. 13, 1985. He tied the team record with 25 assists in that game. He twice reached 11 assists in a quarter. ... Ty Lawson, Kendall Marshall and Chris Paul (twice) have all had 17-assist games this season. Jennings surpassed that before the end of the third quarter. ' ' '