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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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 GAME FLOW
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) -- Another sensational performance by Scottie Pippen pushed the Minnesota Timberwolves close to another first-round playoff departure.
|  | | Portland center Arvydas Sabonis, guarded by Minnesota counterpart Radoslav Nesterovic, throws the no-look pass. |
Pippen scored nine of his 21 points in the final 6½ minutes, including the clinching free throw with 7.9 seconds left Wednesday night as the Portland Trail Blazers defeated the Timberwolves 86-82 for a 2-0 lead in their best-of-five series.
"I knew they were going to come out and try to stop me from being aggressive early on," said Pippen, who scored a season-high 28 points in the Blazers' 91-88 Game 1 victory Sunday. "So I waited for opportunities."
Pippen also played the same kind of ruthless defense that helped him win six titles in Chicago.
After Damon Stoudamire hit two free throws with 15.4 seconds left for an 85-82 lead, the Timberwolves got the ball to Malik Sealy. Pippen was all over him, and Sealy's fallaway 3-point try was long and to the right off the glass.
Sealy had eight points on 3-of-12 shooting after scoring 23
Sunday.
"I just got out and contested his shots," Pippen said. "We
want him to shoot the ball from the outside."
After the miss, Pippen ran down the rebound, got fouled and made
one of two free throws to seal it.
"Scottie made all the big plays -- defensively, offensively,
ball-handling, making the shots," Blazers coach Mike Dunleavy
said. "He has been incredible these first two games. We just look
forward to him leading the way the rest of the way."
Game 3 is Sunday in Minneapolis.
Kevin Garnett, who was just 6-of-20 from the field in Game 1,
had 23 points on 8-of-16 shooting to lead the Timberwolves, who are
trying to avoid a first-round elimination for the fourth straight
year. Garnett added 10 rebounds, and Terrell Brandon had 20 points.
"I think we're very happy to be going back home," Garnett
said. "Home is where the heart is. Target Center will be rocking
when we come out. As I said all year, that's the socket and I'm the
plug, and I'm getting ready to plug in. I'm ready to rock on Sunday."
Unlike Game 1, when the Blazers had to come back from a
six-point deficit in the fourth quarter, they entered Wednesday
night's final period leading by nine, 67-58.
Pippen's 3-pointer put the Blazers up 79-71 with 5:21 to go, but
the Timberwolves wouldn't quit. After Game 1, Minnesota coach Flip
Saunders said his players were taking cheap shots from the Blazers
and not fighting back.
Both teams responded to the rhetoric, because the fourth quarter
was filled with rough play, and both sides were howling almost
nonstop at the referees.
Portland's Rasheed Wallace was so incensed when a foul wasn't
called on his missed dunk that he chased Brandon all the way up the
court and grabbed hold of him just so he could vent on the
officials. Wallace had to be restrained by teammate Steve Smith,
but even though he already had one technical foul, he wasn't
ejected.
Brandon missed the technical free throw but made his other two,
cutting the lead to 79-77 with 1:59 to go. After a long jumper by
Sabonis, Garnett and Pippen traded sets of free throws, leaving
Portland with an 83-79 lead with 72 seconds left.
Garnett drove to the basket and got fouled, but could make only
one of two free throws. Brandon missed a 3-pointer, and Anthony
Peeler tipped it in to cut it to 82-82 with 17.5 seconds to go.
But Minnesota had to foul Stoudamire, and after he hit his
shots, the Timberwolves couldn't counter.
"There's no question that they're the team with experience,"
Saunders said. "Whenever we had a defensive lapse, they really
took advantage."
The Timberwolves, who missed 10 of 11 shots during one stretch
of the fourth quarter Sunday, got back to moving the ball well
early Wednesday. A soaring slam off by Garnett off a missed jumper
with two-tenths of a second left in the first quarter put the
Timberwolves ahead 24-19.
A wide-open 21-foot jumper by Sam Mitchell put Minnesota ahead 34-24, but the Blazers quickly closed the gap. Pippen scored seven points, including a 3-pointer, during a 10-1 run, and an open
22-footer by Wallace gave the Blazers their first lead since the
opening minute, 38-37.
A long jumper by Garnett gave the Timberwolves a 41-40 halftime
lead.
Arvydas Sabonis had 19 points despite getting into foul trouble for the second straight game, and Stoudamire had 13 points and six assists.
Game notes
The Timberwolves are 7-38 against the Blazers, including
3-21 in Portland. ... Joe Smith went down with 26 seconds left in the first quarter when he got tangled up with Brandon. Smith had to be helped off the court with a hyperextended right knee, but he returned in the second period and finished with four points. ... The Blazers are 17-4 at Minnesota, but they're only 19-62 on the road in the playoffs.
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Minnesota Clubhouse
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RECAPS
New York 84
Toronto 83
Portland 86
Minnesota 82
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