Timberwolves Out Shoot Mavs

April 6, 1999 / 12:08 AM EDT / CBS/AP

Just as the Minnesota Timberwolves were starting to recognize each other, another of their key players went down with an injury.

The Timberwolves, already without four key players, hung on to beat the Dallas Mavericks 100-93 Monday, but Minnesota lost starting point guard Terrell Brandon with a right thigh bruise.

Brandon sustained the injury when he collided with Mavericks center Shawn Bradley with 9:47 left in the third quarter and did not return to the game or leave with the team on their flight to Phoenix where they play the Suns on Wednesday.

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Wolves coach Flip Saunders said Brandon is doubtful for the team's next three games.

"It's tough," Wolves' forward Kevin Garnett said of the team's injuries. "We've got to keep our heads up and get through it."

With the win, the Wolves finished their homestand 5-1 despite dressing only 10 players for the third consecutive game. While starters Garnett and Sam Mitchell scored a team-leading 18 points each, Minnesota's big contributions came from the bench, which scored 47 points.

Tom Hammonds scored 14, Brandon's replacement Bobby Jackson added 13 and seldom-used forward Andrae Patterson had 11.

"That's what we get paid for," Jackson said. "We've got to step in and play great no matter how many minutes we're in there."

Gary Trent scored 26 to lead the Mavericks, who got only seven points on 2-of-13 shooting from leading scorer Michael Finley. Garnett played the bulk of the minutes against Finley, who averages more than 18 points a game, and held him without a point until less than four minutes left in the game.

"He plays great defense and their total team defense definitely affected us," Finley said. "I couldn't hit anything. The shots just weren't falling."

Minnesota took the lead for good at 33-31 in the secod quarter when Patterson converted consecutive 3-point plays. He and Hammonds each scored 10 points in the quarter.

The Wolves maintained a comfortable lead in the second half until Steve Nash's 3-pointer with 1 minute to play pulled Dallas within 93-90. But Jackson, Mitchell and Garnett converted seven of eight free throws in the final minute to put the game away.

"The second quarter just never let us recover," Trent said. "It was an uphill fight."

Dallas was done in by 20 turnovers, which the Wolves converted into 20 points. Minnesota had 16 steals, one short of the club record.

"If we hadn't set the tone early that this was going to be a defensive and rebounding team," Saunders said. "I don't think we would have won some of the games we've won with our injuries."

The Wolves hope to get some of their injured players back for Wednesday's game at Phoenix. Forwards Joe Smith and Malik Sealy could return for the Suns game while guards Anthony Peeler and James Robinson will also make the trip but could be out for longer periods. Notes: Hammonds is 30 for 45 shooting in the past four games. He has reached double figures in each of those games after not reaching 10 points in any of the team's previous 29 games. ... Dallas was coming off its only three-day break of the season. ... Minnesota plays eight of its next 12 games on the road, including three in three days beginning Wednesday. ... The Wolves are 8-1 when Hammonds plays at least 15 minutes, and he has averaged 29 over the past four games.