Portland wins series 3-1

Game	Date	Location/Result	Time (ET)
Game 1	April 23	Portland 91, Minnesota 88
Game 2	April 26	Portland 86, Minnesota 82
Game 3	April 30	Minnesota 94, Portland 87
Game 4	May 2	Portland 85, Minnesota 77

REGULAR-SEASON RESULTS (Series tied 2-2)
Date	Final Score
11/24 at MIN	Portland 88, Minnesota 81
12/9 at POR	Portland 90, Minnesota 86
1/6 at MIN	Minnesota 98, Portland 96
3/16 at POR	Minnesota 96, Portland 92

HEAD COACHES
	Mike Dunleavy, Portland Third year with Blazers, ninth year overall Playoff record: 21-19 Best Finish: Took Lakers to NBA Finals in 1991, losing to Bulls in five games
	Flip Saunders, Minnesota Fifth year with Wolves, fifth year overall Playoff record: 3-9 Best Finish: Extended Seattle to Game 5 in 1998, before losing in first round.

STARTING FIVE
Portland Trail Blazers
Damon Stoudamire, G	If jumper is on, Wolves in trouble
Steve Smith, G	Veteran knows how to sink big shots
Scottie Pippen, F	Six title rings and still a great defender
Rasheed Wallace, F	Great defender and closest team has to go-to guy
Arvydas Sabonis, C	One of the best-passing big guys in league
Minnesota Timberwolves
Terrell Brandon, G	Great passer; if he's scoring big Minnesota has a shot
Malik Sealy, F	Since he became a starter in December, Wolves took off
Wally Szczerbiak, F	Elevated his game since coming back from knee injury in January
Kevin Garnett, F	K.G. against Wallace will be treat to watch
Radoslav Nesterovic, C	Has the reputation of being soft

THE BENCH
Portland Trail Blazers
Brian Grant, F	Needs to pick it up under the boards for Blazers to go deep in playoffs
Bonzi Wells, G	Second-year players is explosive offensive weapon
Detlef Schrempf, F	Another veteran with lots of playoff experience
Greg Anthony, G	Often ends game running the point ahead of Stoudamire
Jermaine O'Neal, C	Rail-thin and almost 7-foot, he masquerades as Blazers backup center
Minnesota Timberwolves
Anthony Peeler, G	Streak-shooter capable of lighting it up
Joe Smith, F	Not big enough to play PF, not quick enough to play SF
Dean Garrett, C	Not much better than Nesterovic in the middle
Sam Mitchell, F	Adds leadership off the bench
Bobby Jackson, G	Gets scrap minutes at point when Brandon rests

HOW THEY GOT THERE

Portland Trail Blazers

The Blazers were neck-and-neck with the Lakers until that fateful date at the Rose Garden on Feb. 29, when both Western powers were 45-11. The Lakers surged ahead with the victory on Portland's homecourt. Since then the Blazers have played about .500 ball and the Lakers continued to destroy everybody. The critics say this team doesn't have a go-to guy -- the Blazers' top scorer is Rasheed Wallace at 16 points a game. The team would argue that they have a team full of clutch players, like veterans Scottie Pippen, Steve Smith, Arvydas Sabonis and Wallace.

Minnesota Timberwolves

Through the first 20 games of the season the Wolves didn't even look like a playoff team, stumbling their way to a 7-13 record. But since then they've been one of the hottest teams in the league, behind the Lakers. Minnesota has had to rely heavily on All-Star Kevin Garnett, who put up the massive numbers and would be an MVP favorite if not for the mammoth year Shaquille O'Neal had with the Lakers.

SERIES OUTLOOK

The Blazers have the deepest team in the league with veterans Detlef Schrempf, Greg Anthony and Brian Grant coming off the bench. Those players would start on many NBA teams and they are miles better than the Wolves' reserves. Terrell Brandon is the key for Minnesota. If he consistently hits the perimeter jumper and takes the pressure off Kevin Garnett, the Wolves will have an outside shot at pulling the upset.

PREDICTION

Time for the best team money can buy to start playing like it. Blazers in 4. Prediction by Simon Fishler, Sportsline.com NBA Editor