Wolves Scrap By Spurs

The Minnesota Timberwolves have bounced back from their eight-game losing streak.

Minnesota's defense held the San Antonio Spurs without a field goal for the first 8 1/2 minutes of the fourth quarter and the Timberwolves beat the Spurs 91-88 Tuesday night.

Minnesota, which has won seven of eight since the eight-game skid, even its record after 28 games.

"This was a statement that we can play with the top teams in the league," Malik Sealy said.

San Antonio had missed its first 11 shots of the fourth quarter before Mario Elie's layup with 3:33 left in the game made it 83-80 Minnesota.

Sealy, who led the Wolves with 22 points, hit a 17-foot jumper with a minute to play that gave Minnesota an 87-84 lead.

Tim Duncan, who led the Spurs with 27 points and 19 rebounds, answered with a bank shot, and following a Sam Mitchell miss, the Spurs (21-11) had a chance to take the lead.

But Jaren Jackson missed two open 3-pointers on San Antonio's next possession, and Terrell Brandon followed with two free throws. Then Mitchell iced the game with two more after Jackson missed a layup.

"We got a few breaks tonight," Sealy said. "Jackson is a streaky shooter and we were lucky that he happened to miss a few, but when you're winning, you get those breaks."

Brandon finished with 18 points and 13 assists for the Wolves, who were 7-13 on Dec. 17.

"After you play so many games, you start to click," Brandon said. "Even when we lost eight straight, we knew we had a lot of ames to make up, plus we owed a few people."

The Wolves, who trailed 59-50 early in the third quarter, rallied to take the lead at 70-69 on Kevin Garnett's 3-pointer. It was Minnesota's first lead since 24-23 with 11:23 left in the first half.

San Antonio closed the first half on a 34-20 run to lead by eight at halftime. Late in the second quarter, referee Steve Javie called technical fouls within 16 seconds on Garnett and Wolves coach Flip Saunders for protesting calls.

But Garnett scored 13 of his 21 points in the third quarter, and Sealy hit a 3-pointer just before the quarter buzzer to put the Wolves up 75-74. Duncan hit two free throws to start the quarter, but Radoslav Nesterovic answered with two and Minnesota never trailed thereafter.

"The fourth quarter was big," Duncan said. "Minnesota was making plays down the stretch. We missed some shots, and their defense was good."

Minnesota was one of the few teams to have success against San Antonio in the Spurs' run to the championship last year. They won two of four during the regular season and handed the Spurs one of their two playoff losses.

"Their inside players can really shoot it," Spurs center David Robinson said. "They present a challenge for us. They played us in the playoffs last year as well as anyone."

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