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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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 GAME FLOW
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- With his big, bruising teammates clogging up
the middle Wednesday night, Portland's Damon Stoudamire took over from the outside.
|  | | Damon Stoudamire draws a foul from Terrell Brandon of the Timberwolves. Stoudamire and Steve Smith led the Blazers with 18 points apiece. |
Stoudamire scored 16 points during a key third-quarter run and
the Trail Blazers held Kevin Garnett to just 11 points in an 88-81 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves.
"One of those things," said the 5-foot-10 Stoudamire, who hit
two 3-pointers during the run. "My teammates were getting me the
ball and my shots were falling."
Stoudamire and Steve Smith each finished with 18 points for Portland, which won for the seventh time in eight games. Scottie
Pippen had 11 points and 10 rebounds for the Blazers.
"Rasheed (Wallace) defensively played him (Garnett) tough,"
Stoudamire said. "Kevin's been playing so well that when you do
that defensively, it puts a lot of pressure on them."
Wallace and the 7-foot-3 Arvydas Sabonis harassed Garnett into
shooting just 4-for-24 from the field. Garnett, who missed the rim
completely on a number of shots, needed a free throw with 39.8
seconds left to keep alive his string of 138 straight games in
double figures. He finished with 19 rebounds.
"Sometimes I over-focus," Garnett said. "Tonight I focused on
Wallace. I worried too much about him and it got me frustrated."
"I just couldn't get into the flow," he added.
Wally Sczcerbiak scored a career-high 26 points and Terrell
Brandon had 22 for the Timberwolves, who lost their second straight
and third in five games.
"What Portland did was take away our first option," Sczcerbiak
said. "Kevin is our go-to guy. He did a great job, honestly, of
finding people."
Garnett had seven assists, but his teammates also shot poorly.
The Timberwolves shot a season-low 34 percent from the field.
Trailing 40-36, Portland outscored Minnesota 24-12 at the start
of the third to take a 60-52 lead with 3:13 left. Stoudamire was
7-for-7 from the field during the run.
Minnesota missed 14 straight shots between the end of the third
quarter and the start of the fourth to fall behind 72-58 with 7:55
left in the game. The Wolves went scoreless for over six minutes.
Sczcerbiak's three-point play with 2:31 left brought Minnesota
within 78-72, but the Timberwolves could not get closer than six
the rest of the way.
Portland coach Mike Dunleavy won for the 300th time in his
career. He is 300-337, but has a 91-53 mark in two-plus seasons
with the Blazers.
"It just proves that if you stay around long enough you can get
anything," said Dunleavy. "The first 100 came quick. 200 took a
long time and 300 came quick."
The Blazers missed their first seven shots of the game and fell
behind 6-0. But Wallace led them back with 10 points in the quarter
and Portland only trailed 20-19 going into the second.
Minnesota also scored the first six points in the second quarter
to take its biggest lead of the game, 26-19. The Blazers battled
back again to within 38-36, before Brandon's 20-footer at the
buzzer made it 40-36 at halftime.
Game notes
Portland concluded its longest road trip of the season, six
games in nine days. ... Portland swept last year's season series,
winning three games by an average of 11.7 points. The Blazers lead
the all-time series 35-5, although Minnesota has won three of the
last six at home. ... Portland shot just 38.2 percent from the
field. ... Minnesota entered the game leading the league in assists
with 27.6 per game. Against Portland, the Wolves only had 17,
including four by their starting guards. ... Starting Friday in
Denver, the Timberwolves will play five straight games against
sub-.500 opponents. ... The 81 points was Minnesota's lowest output
this season.
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ALSO SEE
NBA Scoreboard
Portland Clubhouse
Minnesota Clubhouse
RECAPS
San Antonio 121
Boston 98
Washington 101
Philadelphia 93
Charlotte 89
Vancouver 73
Miami 93
Atlanta 91
Orlando 112
Dallas 100
Milwaukee 102
Chicago 95
Portland 88
Minnesota 81
Denver 109
Toronto 84
New Jersey 92
Golden State 84
LA Lakers 90
Utah 82
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