MINNEAPOLIS -- Stretching on the floor before Tuesday night's game, Kendall Gill glanced over at Michael Jordan and saw him doing the same thing.
Almost made him feel like a kid.
Gill rallied Minnesota with nine of his 22 points in the fourth quarter to lead the Timberwolves to a 90-86 victory over Jordan and the Washington Wizards.
"I've just been working really hard," Gill said. "Because of my age, I have to."
Jordan, five years Gill's senior at age 39, looked even older than that. He had 10 points on 5-for-14 shooting, but Gill indicated he didn't see Jordan's best.
The 10-time NBA scoring champion is coming off the bench for the first time in his career, and the Wizards are still trying to make their new pieces fit.
"It seems like he's holding back a little bit," Gill said. "He wasn't pressing it tonight. I sense he could do a lot more."
The Wizards were outscored 24-11 in the final period and shot just 9 percent from the floor (2-for-22).
"You can't do that," Jordan said. "We have enough people who can score -- we just have to get them in the right position. Everyone looks to me in the fourth quarter, but I'm looking to spread the ball around."
Kevin Garnett was 5-for-5 in the final period and finished with 17 points and 16 rebounds for Minnesota, which is 3-0 at home.
Jerry Stackhouse had 25 points and seven assists and Tyronn Lue scored 13 for Washington, which fell to 1-3.
The game drew an announced crowd of 18,009 -- 997 short of capacity. It was only the fourth time since Jordan's return -- the first this season -- that a Wizards game hasn't sold out.
Gill, a 13-year veteran brought to training camp by the Timberwolves on a non-guaranteed contract, had by far his best game of the young season while matched mostly against Jordan.
"Real big spark," Garnett said. "He hit 'em when we really needed 'em."
After Garnett hit a jumper over Stackhouse to make it 82-all and rejected Etan Thomas at the other end, Gill capped a 17-3 run and gave Minnesota its first lead since the second quarter by draining a 3-pointer from the top of the key with 2:44 left.
After two free throws by Stackhouse, Gill turned a steal into a fastbreak layup and an 87-84 edge. After a Wizards turnover, a shot by Gill over Jordan made it 89-84 with 56 seconds left.
For an exclamation, Gill got a piece of Jordan's jumper at the free throw line on the next possession.
With three starters hurt, Gill's contribution was big for Minnesota.
"He's getting a chance to step up big now with the (Wally) Szczerbiak injury," Jordan said. "He's a pro. He knows what he's doing out there."
Jordan wasn't much of a factor after scoring 21 points in each of his last two games. He did, however, hit back-to-back baskets late in the third quarter as Washington pulled away with a 10-0 run and grabbed its biggest lead of the game, 71-57.
"To be on the road up by 14 and not finish, that's bad," Lue said.
A night after committing a team-record 29 turnovers in a 24-point loss to reigning Eastern Conference champion New Jersey, the Timberwolves tightened up their offense but again struggled to find scoring with three of their starters from last season out with injuries.
Outscored 61-36 in the second and third quarters against the Nets, Minnesota -- playing its fourth game in five nights -- looked ragged again in the middle periods as players shot several frustrated looks at each other.
"We were just looking for that rhythm," said Rasho Nesterovic, who had 11 points. "Finally, we found it in the fourth quarter, especially on defense."
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