WASHINGTON -- The Minnesota Timberwolves forced the Washington Wizards into a second-half meltdown, a jarring display of two teams headed in opposite directions.
The Timberwolves won their fifth in a row Saturday night, rallying from a 15-point halftime deficit for a 97-89 victory. The Wizards lost their third straight and fourth in five games, prompting coach Doug Collins to question the "will, energy and effort" of his players.
Kendall Gill made all five of his shots in the third quarter, scoring 13 of his 19 points. Kevin Garnett scored 13 of his 17 points in the second half and had 10 rebounds and six assists for the Timberwolves, who also rallied from a 16-point, third-quarter deficit to beat the Los Angeles Clippers the night before.
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| Washington Wizards' Michael Jordan, left, works the ball against Minnesota Timberwolves' Wally Szczerbiak, right, from Spain, during the second quarter, Saturday, Jan. 25, 2003, in Washington. (AP) |
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"Our energy level was totally terrible the first half," Garnett said. "I felt like I was playing like pure garbage and got upset with myself. Second half, I just told everybody, just sort of follow the leader. I got out there and pressured early, saw the whole court, found the rhythm in my shot and never turned back."
Minnesota outrebounded Washington 15-2 in the third quarter to tie the game and took control by opening the fourth with a 9-2 run. The second half stats looked like a varsity vs. JV game: The Timberwolves dominated the Wizards in fast-break points (11-2), second-chance points (14-4), points in the paint (24-6), rebounds (25-14) and points off turnovers (18-2).
"It was like somebody drugged us at halftime," Collins said.
Asked about Monday's game against Phoenix, Collins said: "I ain't worried about Phoenix right now. That's the least of my worries. It doesn't matter who we're playing. It's will, energy and effort to get it done. That's all. I told our guys, I can take losing, but not like that. That is not right."
Collins said the collapse, coming the day after a lethargic performance in Michael Jordan's final regular-season game in Chicago, had nothing to do with Xs and Os.
His players begged to differ, saying they were done in by Minnesota's zone defense in the second half.
"It's easy when things don't go well to put it on energy and effort and when you lose a 15-point lead," said Jerry Stackhouse, who scored 21 points but was 1-for-7 in the second half. "You can say all that, but they basically went to a zone and we were all perimeter."
Larry Hughes scored 18 points for Washington. Jordan had 17, but he was 4-for-10 in the second half with four turnovers and pronounced himself "baffled."
"Everything got stagnant," Jordan said. "Their motivation and energy picked up - ours just dissipated."
Garnett scored nine points in a 15-6 run to open the third quarter as the Timberwolves cut into a 58-43 halftime deficit. They never let up, with Gill scoring nine points in a 14-5 run that tied the score at 74 going into the fourth quarter.
Minnesota dominated the boards, with Garnett and Rasho Nestervoic both outrebounding the entire Wizards team in the third quarter. Nesterovic got two big offensive rebounds in one sequence late in the period, picking up the leftovers as the Wizards' big men fumbled the ball away.
The Wizards led the entire first half, playing aggressive defense. Back-to-back steals converted into layups helped create the big lead - Jordan picking off a pass to set up a 2-on-1, and Tyronn Lue making a steal and turning it into an alley-oop dunk for Kwame Brown.
"They had the dirt in the shovel," Minnesota coach Flip Saunders said. "It was similar to last night. At halftime, I came in and challenged our guys and said we have to dig in."
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