Spurs Keep T'Wolves Down
The crowd was tardy for the early tipoff at the Target Center and quick to the exits. The Minnesota Timberwolves' offense was absent the whole night.
The San Antonio Spurs held the Wolves to 28 first-half points on the way to an 85-71 rout Thursday night and a 2-1 lead in the best-of-5 NBA playoff series.
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Avery Johnson continued to take advantage of double-teams on the big men by scoring 24 points, 15 above his average.
And San Antonio's twin towers did their part, too. David Robinson, held to six shots and 11 points Tuesday night, had 17 points and 18 rebounds. Tim Duncan added 15 points, seven rebounds and seven assists.
"Avery Johnson was the difference, period," Garnett said.
Johnson sank 12 of his 15 shots.
"Like I say, year after year, you've got Sean Elliott, Mario Elie and two great posts, you've got to cover them," Johnson said. "If I was the other coach, I'd leave me open, too."
Wolves center Dean Garrett said Johnson "was practically shooting free throws out there."
And he wasn't alone.
As the crowd trickled in for the 6 p.m. CDT game, Wolves coach Flip Saunders shrugged. "What you want is the crowd at a fever pitch at the end of a game. That's when it counts," he said.
But the Spurs kept the usually raucous crowd quiet by closing the first half on a 25-8 run for a 44-28 halftime lead. They led by as many as 23 in the second half.
Blame fatigue. Terrell Brandon logged a bone-rattling 47 minutes and Garnett worked 46 Tuesday night as the Wolves used a seven-man rotation. Neither was fresh for Game 3, and Brandon wrenchd his back to boot.
The Spurs, trying to avoid joining the 1994 Seattle SuperSonics as the only No. 1 seed not to make it out of the first round, didn't take immediate advantage of the Wolves' all-around woes.
Despite missing 16 of their first 22 shots, the Wolves trailed just 17-16 after one quarter because San Antonio turned the ball over six times.
It all began to unravel for Minnesota in the second quarter. Up 20-19, Brandon made an ill-advised pass into the lane on the break and Jaren Jackson picked it off, fed to Malik Rose upcourt for the jam, sparking the Spurs on a game-turning 9-0 run.
Garnett, who had 23 points and 12 rebounds, ended the Wolves' drought with consecutive dunks of his own, making it 28-24. But he then took a breather and the Spurs took advantage, stretching their lead to 36-27 behind a dunk and two free throws by Robinson.
"K.G. was dead tired," Saunders said. "It's a Catch-22. But when he gets to where he's running twice up and down the court and he's looking at me and he's almost hyperventilating, even though you want to keep him in you've got to give him a couple minutes."
Even Garnett's return didn't help the Wolves as the Spurs closed the first half on a 10-1 run that included buckets by Robinson and Johnson off an inbounds steal from Joe Smith in the final seven seconds.
Wolves reserves missed their first 13 shots before Sam Mitchell's tip-in with 90 seconds left in the third period, but that only made it 63-43.
It took an 8-0 run for the Wolves to cut the deficit to 15 entering the fourth quarter. With five minutes left, Smith missed a wide-open dunk. At the other end, Duncan slammed home the Spurs' ninth dunk of the night.
The Spurs finally outrebounded the Timberwolves, 47-37.
"That was the big difference, controlling the boards," Robinson said. "They got second shots last game. Tonight we were much more aggressive."
The Spurs, coming off a 71-point effort, a franchise low for a playoff game, can clinch the series Saturday at the Target Center.
"We've got to go back to the lab and come out Saturday like it's our last game," Garnett said.
Because another performance like this and it will be.
Notes: Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura, in a Garnett jersey, took the microphone before tipoff and hollered: "If I can beat the House and the Senate, we sure as heck are going to beat the Spurs tonight." ... Saunders was miffed that Garnett didn't make the NBA's All-Defensive Team announced Thursday. "It's a joke," he said. "Kevin gets the publicity but not the credit he deserves. We put Kevin on the best offensive player no matter what position he is. I wouldn't trade Kevin for Tim Duncan, Scottie Pippen or Karl Malone." Duncan, Pippen and Malone were the forwards selected to the team by the league's 29 coaches. ... The game was delayed briefly in the second quarter when fficial Bill Spooner stepped on Bobby Jackson, who was sitting courtside waiting to come in.
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