Minnesota Timberwolves Team Report - November 10

(Basketball News) - The Minnesota Timberwolves lost a tough contest to the Indiana Pacers, 102-101, on Tuesday at the Target Center.

Kevin Garnett paced Minnesota with 22 points, 10 boards and eight assists, while Wally Szczerbiak added 20 points for the Timberwolves, who have dropped six of their last eight to the Pacers.

Latrell Sprewell netted 21 points and Troy Hudson came off the bench to chip in with 15 in the loss.

Indiana, which at one point led 68-49 midway through the third, saw its lead shrink to 80-68 after three quarters. Then, with the lead down to four points in the fourth, sweated out the final 10.9 seconds of the game after a furious Minnesota comeback.

Jermaine O’Neal’s slam gave the Pacers a seemingly comfortable 102-97 lead with under a minute left in the contest. However, two free throws by Szczerbiak, who had 16 in the quarter, and a reverse layup by Hudson trimmed the deficit to 102-101 with 33 seconds remaining.

Garnett had a shot to win the game, but his turnaround baseline jumper hit the side of the rim, but touched a Pacer as it went out of bounds, giving the Timberwolves one last shot with five seconds remaining. However, Sprewell’s three-point attempt hit the front of the rim as time expired

Minnesota guard Fred Hoiberg did not play against the Pacers because of back spasms.

Garnets has averaged 26 points, 15 rebounds and 6.5 assists in Minnesota’s first four games of the season.

The Timberwolves are off until Thursday when they visit Tracy McGrady and the Houston Rockets. Last season, the Rockets and Timberwolves split four contests.