Minnesota Timberwolves Team Report - December 24

(Basketball News) - The Minnesota Timberwolves fell to the San Antonio Spurs, 96-82, on Thursday at the SBC Center.

Wally Szczerbiak finished with 22 points and Troy Hudson added 14 off the bench for Minnesota, which fell for the third time in four games. Kevin Garnett compiled his 23rd double-double of the year with 15 points and 10 boards.

The teams were deadlocked at 65-65 after three periods before San Antonio asserted itself in the fourth. After building a three-point edge with nine minutes to go, Manu Ginobili ignited a 12-6 run with a three-pointer as the Spurs began to pull away. Tim Duncan scored the last five points of the spurt, including a jumper with 5:39 to go which gave the hosts an 84-75 lead.

The Timberwolves failed to make a basket over the final four-plus minutes and San Antonio put the game out of reach when Ginobili followed Bruce Bowen’s trey at the 3:10 mark with a basket which made the score 92-80 heading into the last two minutes.

Szczerbiak has scored in double-digits in 16 straight games. He is averaging 15.1 points and 3.2 rebounds in 25 games this season for Minnesota.

Minnesota is off until Sunday when they host the Washington Wizards. It will be the first of two meetings this season between the two squads. The Wizards are scheduled to host the Timberwolves on January 8, 2005 at the MCI Center.