Jackson delivered by tying the game late in regulation and scoring six of his 30 points in overtime, leading the Golden State Warriors back from a poor fourth quarter to beat the hapless Minnesota Timberwolves 113-110 on Tuesday night.
"At the end of the day it's just good to get a win," Jackson said. "I definitely give it up for those young guys coming off the bench, trying to figure out their roles. We got it into overtime and we found a way to win. That says a lot about this team with us having so many young guys."
Jackson hit a 3-pointer with 2:16 left in the extra session and the Warriors sent the Timberwolves to their sixth straight loss. Jackson's transition layin with 22.2 seconds left in regulation tied the game at 106 and Rashad McCants missed a 3-pointer from the top of the arc at the buzzer to send the game into extra time.
Al Jefferson had 25 points, 12 rebounds and four blocked shots for Minnesota, which seemed in control when it led by 10 with 7:06 left. The Timberwolves missed their first five shots in overtime before Randy Foye's basket with 1:07 to play.
Minnesota hasn't won since starting the season with a 98-96 victory against Sacramento at home on Oct. 29.
As if the game wasn't long enough, the officials met to review whether Golden State's C.J. Watson was fouled before the final buzzer sounded and they ultimately added two-tenths of a second to the clock and put Watson at the free throw line. That's after Golden State had dropped confetti that had to quickly be swept off the court for play to resume.
"We were ready to win the game, that's what I liked," Timberwolves coach Randy Wittman said. "They fought. We ran into a period there where we didn't defend and they made shots. There's a lot of good things in this but the most important one's a bad thing (losing). I don't know what else to say. We have to learn how to close games out."
McCants added 18 points off the bench for the Timberwolves and Ryan Gomes, another reserve, had 18 points and five rebounds. Jefferson, who shot 11-for-19, hit a turnaround hook shot with 8:09 to play that put Minnesota ahead 99-91 and appeared to give his team the momentum it needed down the stretch down the stretch.
Golden State's Andris Biedrins finished with 13 points and 15 rebounds before fouling out in overtime, recording his 15th straight double-double dating back to April -- the longest current streak in the NBA. Kelenna Azubuike added 22 points and eight rebounds. His two free throws with 1:21 left in regulation got Golden State within 106-104.
"A lot of guys played well, Jack especially," Warriors coach Don Nelson said. "We really needed a big game from him to win. I don't know how long I can play him 48 minutes but we'll keep going till he cries."
Minnesota was winless on its three-game West Coast swing after already dropping games at Sacramento and Portland. The Timberwolves previously lost six in a row from April 1-9 last season, when they also had an eight-game skid and another six-gamer in 2007-08.
"The mood is tough, but no one feels sorry for us," Minnesota's Mike Miller said.
The Warriors certainly would like to establish some rhythm at home in Oracle Arena to give this young team some confidence in the season's first month, and the 17,422 fans were thrilled to see them rally back this time.
"I thought we could postpone the rebuilding by a year," Nelson said, acknowledging he expects to see a fair share of mistakes early on. "We understand we're not going to be a quick fix. It's going to be a longer-term deal. I've gone through this process before. It's not necessarily a good feeling, but it's a process you have to work through."
The Timberwolves, who hit nine of their first 15 shots on the way to a quick 19-6 lead, shot 1-of-10 from 3-point range in the first half to fall behind 58-50 at the break despite getting 15 assists to the Warriors' seven.
Notes:@ The Warriors hired Larry Harris as an assistant coach Tuesday. He previously spent 19 seasons with the Milwaukee Bucks in a variety of capacities but has never been an assistant. Harris, the son of veteran NBA coach Del Harris, replaces Larry Riley. Riley took over as Golden State's assistant general manager last week when president Robert Rowell abruptly fired assistant GM Pete D'Alessandro, who had been top basketball executive Chris Mullin's right-hand man for five seasons. ... Golden State's Al Harrington, who wants to be traded, missed his third straight game with a strained lower back and Corey Maggette sat out his fourth consecutive game with a strained left hamstring.
