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Sunday, Mar. 5 8:30pm ET
T-Wolves blow 20-point 2nd-half lead | |||||
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BOX SCORE
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 GAME FLOW
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- Although Kevin Garnett and the Minnesota Timberwolves started playing in what looked like a laugher Sunday night, they ended up in something far more serious. Garnett had 21 points, 13 rebounds and seven assists on a tender left ankle as Minnesota outlasted Gary Payton and Seattle SuperSonics 105-100 in overtime.
"I guess we wanted to keep it interesting," Minnesota head coach Flip Saunders said after watching his team blow a 20-point second-half lead. "All of a sudden you're playing not to lose, instead of to win," he added. Terrell Brandon had 20 points and 11 assists for Minnesota, which won its third straight and seventh in eight games. Malik Sealy added 18 points. "We won at the end," Brandon said. "That's the only thing we care about." Payton had 34 points, including 17 during a fourth-quarter surge for the SuperSonics, who lost for the fourth time in six games. Payton added 12 assists and Vin Baker, playing in his 500th career game, scored 20 to break the 9,000-point mark. "It didn't work, so it's no biggie," said Payton of his scoring outburst. "We always seem to dig a hole for ourselves," he added. "If we played the first half like the second, it wouldn't have been a contest." Garnett briefly left at 2:18 of the third quarter when he aggravated a left-foot sprain with the Wolves leading 71-57. It was the same scenario as Saturday night, when Garnett left in the third at Milwaukee with the same injury. "Usually when you tweak your ankle a lot, you keep tweaking your ankle," said Saunders, who added that Garnett would be fine. With the Wolves' star in the locker room, Seattle made a furious comeback. Trailing 77-61, Seattle used a 12-4 run at the start of the fourth to close to 81-73. It was the closest the Sonics had been since 10:08 of the first. Payton's two free throws at 5:02 brought Seattle to 83-80, but Garnett was back to score the next three points. Wally Szczerbiak's sixth straight point, with 17.8 seconds left, gave Minnesota a 92-88 lead. But Emanual Davis followed with a 3-point shot. After Sealy made two free throws, Payton hit a 3-pointer with 7.1 seconds left to tie it at 94. It was the first tie of the game. Garnett missed a jumper at the end of regulation to send it to overtime, in which he led Minnesota with four points. "It would have been a steal to come back and win that game, after the hole we were in," Seattle coach Paul Westphal said. "We had a chance." It was Seattle's fifth road game in seven nights, as the Sonics ended their road trip 2-3. "We have no excuses," Payton said. "Minnesota played last night too. That's the NBA." The Timberwolves started the game on a 13-0 run, highlighted by Sealy's one-handed fast-break dunk at 7:27. Seattle, meanwhile, missed their first six shots and had four turnovers in the first six minutes. Brandon scored 13 points in the first quarter as the Wolves took a 27-14 lead. Minnesota continued to dominate in the second, taking a 52-35 lead into the break. Brandon's 3-pointer with five minutes left in the third gave Minnesota its biggest lead, 67-47.
Game notes | ALSO SEE NBA Scoreboard Seattle Clubhouse Minnesota Clubhouse RECAPS Utah 88 New York 79
Minnesota 105
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