T'wolves Bite Spurs Again

With two wins over the San Antonio Spurs in the last five days, the Minnesota Timberwolves have made the NBA's Midwest Division a three-team race.

The Timberwolves defeated the Spurs 108-102 on Thursday night, closing to within 3 1/2 games of San Antonio and the Utah Jazz, tied for the division lead.

Kevin Garnett scored 23 points and had 13 rebounds to lead Minnesota, while Malik Sealy added 20 points. The Timberwolves, who connected on 53 percent of their field-goal attempts on the night, have defeated San Antonio in three of four games this season.

David Robinson scored 24 points to lead San Antonio, which played its fourth consecutive game without injured forward Tim Duncan, sidelined with a lower abdominal strain. The Spurs are 2-2 in those games. Antonio Daniels and Jaren Jackson added 18 points each, with Jackson connecting on six 3-pointers.

"You have to give the guys a lot of credit," San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich said. "They competed hard and played a great game. Kevin Garnett changes your dynamics. When you lose a guy like Tim (Duncan) or Malik (Rose who are big rebounders and defenders, there is more pressure on the small guys to play defense and get rebounds."

Trailing 64-61 early in the third quarter, Minnesota went on a 12-0 run, leading 73-64 on Sealy's dunk with 3:26 to play in the quarter.

San Antonio closed the period with a 6-0 run as Jackson's fifth 3-pointer brought the Spurs to 82-77 after three quarters.

Minnesota held the lead from that point as Joe Smith's jump shot gave the Timberwolves an 86-77 lead with 11 minutes remaining.

"Without Tim Duncan they don't have another big body," Garnett said. "Tim and David together really clog up the paint. When we share the ball and you see one guy with six, seven or eight assists, it shows that we are sharing the basketball."

San Antonio closed to 94-90 on a driving shot by Robinson with 4:45 to play, and to 101-98 on two free throws by Terry Porter with 1:34 remaining. Smith's three-point play gave Minnesota a 104-98 lead with 1:13 remaining and San Antonio got no closer than four after that.

"I tell you what, they saw us coming," Robinson said. "They shot the ball real well both times this week. We are not talking about dunks, we're talking about tough shots. They played great, you have to give them credit."

San Antonio, one of the NBA's top defensive teams, has allowed opponents to score 100 or more points on only six occasions this season, twice to Minnesota.

"We didn't play badly considering all the circumstances," said San Antonio point guard Avery Johnson after watching the Spurs reserves combine for 47 points. "If they keep playing like they have been, when we get healthy, our bench is going to be a monster."

Starting in place of the injured Duncan and Malik Rose, Samaki Walker played 42 minutes for San Antonio with 14 points and 12 rebounds.

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