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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME FLOW
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- Terrell Brandon and Anthony Peeler were on
target in the fourth quarter. And with Utah facing a shortage of
big bodies to slow Kevin Garnett, he was tough to stop all night.
|  | | Timberwolves forward Kevin Garnett, right, scores over Utah's David Benoit. |
Garnett scored 23 points and had 11 rebounds, while Terrell
Brandon had 19 points and 11 assists as the Minnesota Timberwolves
beat the Utah Jazz 89-81 Wednesday night.
Peeler had seven of his 17 points in the final period and
Brandon scored nine points in the fourth quarter as the
Timberwolves closed with a 9-1 run to end Utah's four-game winning
streak.
"We wanted to be aggressive down the stretch, to move the ball
around and shoot with confidence," Brandon said.
Brandon and Peeler scored the final nine points for the
Timberwolves, who pulled away from a 78-78 tie with 2:02 remaining.
With the Jazz collapsing inside on Garnett, either Brandon or
Peeler was open on the perimeter.
"That's always our strategy, to feed off Kevin Garnett,"
Peeler said. "I missed a couple shots early, but when (John)
Starks sagged off in the fourth quarter, I knew I could make
them."
It was a big learning experience for the Timberwolves, who blew
an eight-point lead in the final five minutes of a 107-102
homecourt loss to Boston on Monday and blew double-digit leads in
the second half of two earlier losses to Utah.
"We've been in that position before so many times," Garnett
said. "We weren't always aggressive down the stretch. I told
myself I wanted to stay aggressive and just react."
Karl Malone led the Jazz with 22 points, while Donyell Marshall
scored 19 and John Stockton had 10.
Utah suffered without the inside defense of center Olden
Polynice, who was suspended by the league office for one game after
he pleaded guilty Tuesday to misdemeanor charges of impersonating a
police officer and disturbing the peace. The charges stemmed from
traffic altercations last year where Polynice followed other
motorists and exchanged words.
Greg Ostertag, returning after a one-game suspension for
skipping Sunday's practice, played well in place of Polynice. But
Utah's recent trend of shuffling the lineup caught up.
"This has been a pretty quiet team for 10 or 12 years. We
haven't had much going on," said Jazz coach Jerry Sloan. "Lately,
we've had quite a few things going on. Regardless of what they are,
any time you have distractions it takes away from your ability to
play."
Bryon Russell returned after missing three games with a bone
chip and sprain in his right ankle. He rode an exercise bike
through the opening minutes, then came in to cheers with 4:23 left
in the first period. But Russell's only points came on a 3-pointer
with 4:03 before halftime.
"We've played well recently except for this game," Russell
said. "We'll get it back together. We'll get O.P. back tomorrow
and we'll be all right."
The Timberwolves led 65-60 after the third quarter, but Utah
tied it at 76 on a free throw by Stockton with 3:13 remaining. It
was a slow climb as the Jazz worked through a series of offensive
fouls, a technical foul on Stockton and a 3-second violation.
The Jazz finished with 25 turnovers, 10 more than their average.
"The big thing we did was we played good defense," said
Timberwolves coach Flip Saunders. "When you can play Utah and
force them into 25 turnovers and get 33 points off the turnovers,
you did a nice job on defense."
Game notes
The Jazz went 0-for-9 from the field over a span of 7:29 in
the first quarter. ... Minnesota's Chauncey Billups suffered a
severely sprained left ankle with 9:41 remaining in the second
quarter. He's scheduled for X-rays on Thursday but said he doesn't
think it's serious. ... Utah won the first two meetings between the
teams this season, both times by the score of 98-92. The teams
close the season series April 15 in Minneapolis.
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ALSO SEE
NBA Scoreboard
Minnesota Clubhouse
Utah Clubhouse
RECAPS
Philadelphia 99
Chicago 88
Dallas 91
Charlotte 90
New Jersey 108
Washington 89
Minnesota 89
Utah 81
Toronto 98
San Antonio 91
Denver 121
Vancouver 97
Sacramento 111
Boston 106
Phoenix 89
Seattle 80
FROM
ATHLETESDIRECT
Karl Malone Official Site
Bryon Russell Official Site
Kevin Garnett Official Site
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