NBA Game Summary - Chicago at Minnesota

Minneapolis, MN (Basketball News) - Ben Gordon scored a team-high 21 points off the bench as the Chicago Bulls defeated Minnesota, 87-83, in the debut of new Timberwolves head coach Kevin McHale at the Target Center.

Gordon went 7-of-18 from the floor and snatched eight rebounds for Chicago, which ended a five-game road trip with a 2-3 record.

Eddy Curry added 17 points on 7-of-9 shooting and Kirk Hinrich had 15 points, five boards and five assists for Chicago. Also scoring double digits for the Bulls were Othella Harrington with 12 points and Chris Duhon with 10.

Leading the Timberwolves, who named McHale head coach on Saturday, was Latrell Sprewell with a game-high 26 points on 11-of-25 shooting.

The team’s vice president of basketball operations since 1995, McHale replaced longtime head coach Flip Saunders, who was fired after Minnesota failed to achieve the level of play that saw the team reach the Western Conference finals a season ago.

The T-Wolves, who were without the talents of starters Wally Szczerbiak and Sam Cassell, have now lost eight of their last nine outings. Szczerbiak sat out with the flu, while Cassell did not play due to a strained right hamstring.

Meanwhile, Kevin Garnett achieved an impressive career milestone in the loss.

Garnett, who entered Sunday’s game two points shy of 15,000 for his career, reached the milestone on his first attempt from the field at the 11:12 mark in the first quarter. He surpassed the plateau a little more than a minute later with a dunk. He finished the game with 23 points and 14 rebounds.

Garnett became just the 12th player in NBA history to have at least 15,000 points, 8,000 rebounds and 3,000 assists.

Trailing 69-63 after three quarters, Minnesota outscored Chicago 14-7 in the first six minutes of the fourth quarter to seize a 77-76 lead, punctuated by a Michael Olowokandi jumper with six minutes to play.

The final six minutes saw five lead changes with a Gordon layup giving the Bulls a one-point advantage, 82-81. It was a lead they would not relinquish.

The T-Wolves would miss five shots in the final 1:29, while the Bulls converted 5-of-6 free throws to seal the victory.

Minnesota jumped out to a 15-9 lead in the early going, but Chicago outscored the T-Wolves, 19-6, over the next 5:49 with Gordon netting 10 points as the Bulls finished the first 12 minutes ahead, 28-21.

Chicago opened the second frame on a 9-2 run to open a double-digit lead, 37-23, before heading into halftime with a 49-41 advantage.

The Bulls were led by 15 points from Curry and 14 from Gordon, while Minnesota got 13 points and eight rebounds from Garnett.

Behind four points from Curry and five from Duhon, the Bulls extended their lead to 60-47 almost four minutes into the third quarter. Minnesota trimmed the deficit to 69-63 heading into the final 12 minutes.