| |
RECAP
|
BOX SCORE
|
 GAME FLOW
TOKYO (AP) -- After losing their season opener to the Sacramento
Kings, Kevin Garnett promised the Minnesota Timberwolves would be a
very different team the next day.
He was right.
Garnett, who turned the game around in the second half, scored
31 points Sunday in the Timberwolves' 114-101 victory over the
Kings in the second game of their season-opening series in Japan.
"One of the things I tried to do was get my teammates
involved," Garnett said. "It was a team effort ... and that was
the difference."
Garnett, who was 13-of-22 from the field, also grabbed 12
rebounds. He had 34 points in Minnesota's 100-95 loss Saturday.
Anthony Peeler had 19 points for Minnesota, while Joe Smith --
returning from a foot injury -- added 17.
Chris Webber led the Kings with 22 points and 10 rebounds.
Webber keyed a run over the last three minutes of the second
quarter that gave Sacramento an eight-point lead. Garnett hit a
shot from almost half court cut the lead to 63-61 at halftime.
"I said to my teammates, `We need to make a run,"' Garnett
said. "They looked a little tired, and we tried to take advantage
of it."
Garnett kept the momentum going, starting the third quarter with
a free throw, a dunk and a 3-pointer that put the Wolves ahead
67-63. Garnett continued to dominate throughout the quarter, in
which he went 5-of-5 from the field and hit all three of his free
throws.
The Timberwolves used an 18-6 run at the start of the fourth
quarter to take a 106-87 lead with 4:39 remaining.
"In the third quarter, we were really poor at both ends of the
court," Kings coach Rick Adelman said. "It was a disappointing
game."
Webber said the problem wasn't fatigue.
"It just came down to them flat-out taking it from us," he
said.
This is the fifth year the NBA has held season-opening games in
Japan. The first were between the Phoenix Suns and Utah Jazz in
1990.
Attendance at Sunday's game was a capacity crowd of 34,013. To
accommodate more fans, the games were moved to the Tokyo Dome from
a smaller venue in 1996.
Game notes
This year's Japan Games were broadcast to a record 131
countries, in 13 languages. ... Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura took
time out on his first trip abroad as governor to cheer for the
Timberwolves. ... The Portland Trail Blazers scored the most points
in a game in Japan with 121 against the Los Angeles Clippers in
1994.
| |
ALSO SEE
NBA Scoreboard
Sacramento Clubhouse
Minnesota Clubhouse
RECAPS
Indiana 115
Boston 108
Orlando 107
Washington 104
Atlanta 113
Chicago 97
Cleveland 102
New York 93
Milwaukee 121
Detroit 111
Minnesota 114
Sacramento 101
Portland 97
LA Lakers 82
Seattle 99
Utah 94
Vancouver 109
Denver 94
Dallas 120
Golden State 97
|
