Minnesota Timberwolves

[timvp]

http://www.fullsportpress.com/teams/min_logo.gif

MINNESOTA TIMBERWOLVES
The Timberwolves have never made it past the first round of the playoffs and that's because this team is nothing more than Kevin Garnett. Garnett is having a truly remarkable season and is deep in the race for MVP, but the superstar needs a little help from his friends.

Now that he has returned from injury, Wally Szczerbiak must step up and make a significant contribution. This team needs the role players to kick their game up a notch if they want to advance in the postseason.

Team Page: Minnesota Timberwolves (http://www.fullsportpress.com/teams/timberwolves.html)

[KoriEllis]

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) Kevin Garnett put special emphasis on the Minnesota Timberwolves' late-season game against the Trail Blazers.

Garnett had 16 points, 14 rebounds and 12 assists as the Timberwolves closed the gap for fourth place in the Western Conference with a 97-78 victory over the Trail Blazers on Sunday night.

''I told the guys before the game that this is the first game of the playoffs,'' Garnett said. ''We lose this and we're out of the race for the fourth seed.''

The Timberwolves won the season series 3-1 and pulled virtually even with Portland for home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs. The Blazers (47-29) still lead Minnesota (48-30) by .003 percentage points.

It was Garnett's NBA-leading sixth triple-double this season, and 12th of his career.

''That makes our team very tough to beat,'' teammate Wally Szczerbiak said.

The Timberwolves briefly fell behind in the third quarter but went on a 10-2 run midway through the fourth to go up 81-71. Gary Trent capped the run with six straight points.

Szczerbiak had 25 points for Minnesota, which had lost four of its previous five and was coming off a 111-94 loss to the Phoenix Suns the night before.

Rasheed Wallace had 23 points and nine rebounds for Portland.

''We all understand the importance of home-court advantage, so as we approach our road trip maybe this will give us some incentive and have a lot more energy than we had tonight,'' said Portland coach Maurice Cheeks, whose team is embarking on a three-game road trip.

But as usual with the Blazers, the focus Sunday wasn't just on their play.

The game marked the return of reserve forward Zach Randolph, who was suspended for two games and fined $100,000 for punching teammate Ruben Patterson in the face during practice earlier this week.

Randolph entered the game with about three minutes left in the first quarter to boos from the crowd. Patterson came into the game a minute and a half later.

Patterson said earlier that he accepted Randolph's apology and vowed not to retaliate.

''He's my teammate, he made a mistake, and I can't retaliate, trying to fight him or beat him up, because I'm on probation, so I would get in trouble,'' Patterson said.

While the attention was on Randolph and Patterson, the Timberwolves built a 24-16 lead on Rasho Nesterovic's fast-break slam with 1:16 left in the first quarter and hook shot less than a minute later.

Minnesota extended its lead to as many as 11 points in the first half, but Portland's Derek Anderson hit a 3-pointer with 7 seconds left to narrow it to 41-36 at the break.

Wallace's nine straight points two 3-pointers and three free throws briefly put the Trail Blazers ahead 47-45.

It was short-lived. The Timberwolves came back to go up 67-60 on Troy Hudson's 22-foot jumper.

Randolph's punch was the latest in a string of problems the Trail Blazers have had on and off the court this season.

Just in the past week, rookie Qyntel Woods was cited for marijuana possession following a traffic stop in Portland, while Wallace settled a misdemeanor marijuana possession charge from a traffic stop in Washington back in November.

''At some point we have to put our off-court activities aside and not use them as an excuse,'' Cheeks said. ''Certainly we've been through this before.'' Notes: Patterson is on probation for a modified guilty plea he entered involving charges of sexual assault on his nanny. ... Blazers team owner Paul Allen, who rarely comments to the media, said the team will address unacceptable player conduct head-on. ''The community deserves a team of which we can all be proud and I am fully committed to improving the Blazers' conduct on and off the court,'' he wrote to The Oregonian newspaper. ... The Timberwolves have four games left, playing Wednesday at Seattle before hosting the Clippers and Bulls and wrapping up on the road at Memphis. The Blazers have it a bit tougher, with road games against Houston, San Antonio and Memphis before ending with Phoenix and the Lakers at home.

www.boston.com/dailynews/...rs_:.shtml (http://www.boston.com/dailynews/097/sports/Timberwolves_97_Trail_Blazers_:.shtml)

[KoriEllis]

SEATTLE -- It was all about the fourth quarter last spring, criticism coming at Kevin Garnett from several fronts over what was perceived to be a reluctance or an inability to take over games down the stretch.

So it has been all about the fourth quarter this season, too, in a much different way.

The NBA, in a promotion with Nestlé, tracks a "crunch time" statistic that, lo and behold, adds more evidence to Garnett's mounting case for Most Valuable Player consideration. If he allegedly wasn't "money" in the past in the final minutes of close games, then this is notable: The Timberwolves' All-Star forward leads the league in that stat now.

By focusing on a player's performance over the last two minutes of his games, along with overtime periods, the "crunch time" stat totals up points, rebounds, assists, steals and blocks, then subtracts missed field goals, missed free throws and turnovers. Finally, it awards the player four points if his team wins that game.

Heading into the Wolves' game Wednesday at Seattle, Garnett topped the list with 294 points. Lakers guard Kobe Bryant was second at 274 and Phoenix's Stephon Marbury was third with 273.

"He's always made good decisions," said coach Flip Saunders, who never agreed with the critics, anyway. "We've maybe done more things moving him around [to avoid traps]. He's maybe gotten the ball a little more at times."

Rounding out the top 10: Sam Cassell and Shawn Marion were tied at 269; Jamal Mashburn, 263; Tim Duncan, 257; Jermaine O'Neal, 246; Amare Stoudemire, 242; and Shaquille O'Neal and Wolves guard Troy Hudson were tied at 235.

Watching and waiting

The Wolves could finish as high as fourth or as low as seventh in the Western Conference standings. And the teams immediately around them -- Portland, the Lakers and Utah -- could rise or fall, too, in the season's final week.

Does that make for a lot of watching, waiting and worrying? Not necessarily.

"All we've got to do is win four," Wolves guard Rod Strickland said before facing the Sonics. "We've got to win our games. . . . Obviously, we want that fourth [spot], but we can only control what we can control. Right now, we control that fifth spot."

Yeah, but if the Wolves manage to climb to fourth, they could turn around and see the big, bad Lakers behind them in fifth. Wouldn't that be trouble?

"It shouldn't. Not when you're playing at home," Strickland said.

But because the situation is so fluid -- at the top, in the middle and at the bottom of the West standings -- the Wolves coach tries not to sweat it. "You get excited too much if something happens good," Saunders said, "and you get really disappointed if something bad happens."

www.startribune.com/stori...16034.html (http://www.startribune.com/stories/503/3816034.html)

[timvp]

Garnett isn't a clutch player:wtf

I still can't see how you give the MVP to someone who has never led their team out of the first round. What is he, 0-7?

[freak]

given garnett has faded more than a 1980s color tv but his playoff performances shouldn't be indicative of this years race.

kori, timvp what are your takes on this?

[numbaoneplugga]

Garnett should have been MVP

[b2theizzo]

The answer for the T-Wolves is simple, a trade between Ricky Davis and Wally Szczerbiak Szczerbiak. Think of this line up... T-Hud as a 3rd option for scoring, which is a good fit for him because he can be inconsistent as a #2 scorer. Davis at shooting guard, and K.G at smal forward. thats a good 1-2-3 line up.

[mattyc2422]

If the Wolves had a decent big guy, they'd be a shot for playoff success, especially now that they have Cassell running the show.

[wyomingsfinest1]

garnett has no one around him duncan has jackson parker robinson and steve the unbelievable kerr