Hornets Sting T'Wolves 112-102

Anthony Mason isn't all that impressed with the Charlotte Hornets' best winning streak of the season.

"We still have to play better. I don't think this was a great game," Mason said after the Hornets defeated Minnesota 112-102 on Wednesday night for their sixth consecutive victory.

Playing a Minnesota team that lost by 11 at home one night earlier and was missing its top scorer, the Hornets trailed by five points with 8½ minutes left before closing the game with a 28-13 run.

"I thought the team stepped up when it had to," said Mason, who scored nine of his 21 points in the decisive run. "But when you have a team down early in the game, you've got to put them away. They just played last night. You put them away, let the morale go down and then go and cool it. But we try to make every game exciting."

Mason added seven rebounds and three assists as Charlotte improved its all-time home record against the Timberwolves to 10-0.

Charlotte's Glen Rice, who two nights earlier had his franchise-record run of 135 double-figure scoring games snapped, scored 22.

The Hornets opened the game with a 9-1 run, only to see the Timberwolves bounce back by making 12 of 19 field-goal attempts in the quarter.

"They've got a nice little team," Charlotte coach Dave Cowens said. "They can really shoot the ball. I can see why they're averaging 100 points."

Scoring once again was not the problem for Minnesota, which lost for the fifth time in six games. The Timberwolves have allowed at least 100 points in all six.

"I can't fault out guys because I thought they played hard," Minnesota coach Flip Saunders said. "There were just a couple of plays that we needed and didn't get."

Minnesota shot 53 percent and nearly got a triple-double from Kevin Garnett, but it wasn't enough to keep the Timberwolves from falling to 6-11 since Tom Gugliotta, their leading scorer, was sidelined with ankle problems. Gugliotta underwent season-ending surgery Wednesday.

Bobby Phills added 21 points for the Hornets, who shot 53 percent to improve to 13 games over .500 for the first time this season.

The Timberwolves, losing their fifth straight on the road, got 20 points apiece from Stephon Marbury and Anthony Peeler. Garnett wound up with 19 points, nine rebounds and nine assists.

"When it comes to stats, I don't really care unless we're ahead or winning," Garnett said. "When we play hard we always have a chance. We just couldn't pull it off here."

Minnesota shot 63 percent in the first quarter and 61 percent in the third, but trailed by one point heading into the fourth.

There were three lead changes and a tie in the final quarter before Mason scored on back-t-back possessions to start a 13-2 run. Mason capped the surge with a foul shot that gave the Hornets a 97-91 lead with 4:50 left.

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