Wolves' Bench Races Past Kings

April 3, 1999 / 11:32 PM EST / CBS/AP

Tom Hammonds and the rest of the Minnesota bench overshadowed Chris Webber's return.

Hammonds scored a season-high 23 points as the Wolves' reserves stepped up in a 105-96 win over the Sacramento Kings on Saturday.

The Kings' had the league's hottest bench entering the game, scoring 83 of the team's 104 points in a win over Utah on Tuesday. But Minnesota's reserves outscored Sacramento's, 43-30.

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"Coach Saunders told us we'd have to come out and meet their intensity," Hammonds said. "Everybody came off the bench and contributed tonight. It was a good team effort and a good win."

Kevin Garnett led the Wolves with 24 points, and Terrell Brandon set a career-high with 16 assists.

Vlade Divac had 19 points for the Kings, and Webber returned after missing three games with the flu to score 15 points and grab 10 rebounds.

The Wolves (19-13) opened the second quarter with a 13-2 run, keyed by six points from backup guard Bobby Jackson. Hammonds then scored 11 of Minnesota's 13 points during another stretch before halftime. Wolves' reserves scored 21 points in the quarter.

Hammonds has scored in double figures in each of the past three games after not reaching that mark in the Wolves' first 29.

"The shortened season really hurt me," Hammonds said. "I'm used to having training camp to get into rhythm. Offensively my game wasn't coming around, but I kept working hard in practice and got it going."

The Timberwolves dressed just 10 players against the Kings (14-19) but won for the fourth time during their current five-game homestand.

"I've always said when you have injuries, you can't worry about the players you don't have," Saunders said. "I think our team has made a heck of a statement the last five games."

Minnesota weathered shooting slumps of 0-for-9 ithe first quarter and 0-for-13 in the third quarter. But Sacramento was unable to capitalize, getting no closer than six points in the second half. The Kings turned the ball over 16 times to Minnesota's eight.

"At times I didn't know if either team would score," Kings coach Rick Adelman said. "I couldn't figure out how we were only down six in the fourth quarter."

But the Wolves cracked down on Kings point guard Jason Williams, who shot just 3 of 11 and committed six turnovers. Williams has made just 10 of 32 shots against the Wolves in three meetings, all Minnesota victories.

"They play tight defense and don't give you good shots," Williams said. "You really have to work hard for them."

Sacramento got to within 97-91 with 2:11 to play, but Hammonds came through again, slamming home a pass from Sam Mitchell with 1:43 left.

"He just killed us." Adelman said of Hammonds. "He did anything he wanted to do, especially in the low post, and that's something I didn't expect." Notes: The Wolves have held the Kings below 100 points in their last nine meetings and have won all three meetings between the teams this season. ... Divac has averaged 18 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists in his last six games. ... Sacramento is 12-4 when scoring 100 or more points but 2-15 when scoring less than 100. ... The Kings were playing their NBA-high 20th road game.