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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME FLOW
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – A change in strategy aimed at drawing Shawn Bradley away from the basket, along with a perfect first half by Kevin Garnett, made the difference for the Minnesota Timberwolves.
|  | | Kevin Garnett tormented the Mavericks with a Wolves-record 9-for-9 shooting effort in the first half. He finished with 28 points and 15 rebounds. |
Garnett scored 28 points and made all nine of his shots in the first half as the Wolves avenged two previous blowout losses to the Dallas Mavericks, beating them 109-97 Wednesday.
Garnett's 9-for-9 shooting set a Timberwolves record for most field goals in a half without a miss. He also had 15 rebounds, six assists and five blocks.
"The goal was to be aggressive," Garnett said. "The last three times we played these guys we weren't aggressive, and we let them do what they wanted to do."
The Wolves, who never led in the teams' two previous meetings
this season, never trailed in this one. Dallas had won the first
two games by 20 points.
Wolves coach Flip Saunders went to a small lineup, with 6-foot-7, 37-year-old Sam Mitchell starting at center. Mitchell responded with 20 points, and Wally Szczerbiak added 23.
"When you've lost to a team twice by 20 playing big, obviously that's not working," Saunders said.
Mitchell explained that the team's small lineup was designed to draw the Mavericks' 7-foot-6 center, Bradley, into defensive mismatches on Garnett, Szczerbiak or Mitchell away from the basket. The three responded by making 34 of 52 shots, and Bradley played only 16 minutes.
With Dallas' tallest player out of the game, Minnesota had the
advantage of fresh legs, not having played on Tuesday night as the Mavericks had.
"I knew if I made shots, we could get Bradley out of the game," Mitchell said. "Whoever he was guarding had to make shots. He stays in the game if we don't."
Mitchell and Garnett keyed a first-quarter burst that put
Minnesota ahead 28-9 early. Mitchell scored 10 points in the first
quarter, and Garnett had eight before picking up his second foul.
"We didn't deserve to win that game after the start," said Dirk Nowitzki, who led Dallas with 30 points but didn't score in the fourth quarter.
Six technical fouls were assessed in the game. Dallas' Juwan
Howard was ejected with 8:05 left in the fourth quarter when he
picked up his second technical. It came after he got tangled up
with Szczerbiak.
After his ejection was announced, Howard started toward
Szczerbiak again but was restrained by Garnett and the referees.
Howard would not comment on the incident after the game;
Szczerbiak said he wondered if Howard was trying to lure him into a
second technical and an automatic ejection as well.
Szczerbiak then scored seven of his team's next nine points as
Minnesota built its lead to 99-80, its biggest margin since the
first quarter. He finished with 23 points, 13 in the fourth
quarter.
Dallas rallied to within 29-26 in the first quarter and trailed
53-44 at intermission behind's Nowitzki's 17 first-half points. But
they never got closer than six points in the second half and seven
in the fourth quarter.
"They did to us what we had done to them," Dallas coach Don
Nelson said.
Game notes
Garnett received a commemorative Olympic gold medal ring
before the game. He is the first member of the U.S. squad to
receive a ring. Garnett averaged 10.8 points and a team-high 9.1
rebounds in eight games in Sydney, Australia. ... Garnett,
Christian Laettner and Isaiah Rider each had previously shot
8-for-8 from the field in a half for Minnesota. ... The Mavericks,
who are 7-5 in the second night of back-to-back games, began a
stretch of playing six of their next seven games on the road. ...
Minnesota now leads the all-time series 27-26.
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ALSO SEE
NBA Scoreboard
Dallas Clubhouse
Minnesota Clubhouse
RECAPS
San Antonio 97
Boston 77
Indiana 96
Orlando 95
Charlotte 111
Toronto 95
Miami 109
Chicago 81
Milwaukee 107
LA Lakers 100
Minnesota 109
Dallas 97
Washington 99
Golden State 94
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Kevin Garnett serves up a rejection on the Mavs' Calvin Booth.
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