CHARLOTTE, N.C. - A comeback of almost epic proportions. Turnovers opening wounds in a death of 1,000 basketball cuts. A fourth quarter in which the winners nearly lap the losers.
Those sort of game-breaking ingredients have victimized the Timberwolves in recent weeks, so serving them back to their opponent felt rewarding in their 102-96 scramble to catch and pass the Charlotte Bobcats on Monday night.
Kevin Garnett scored 13 of his season-high 32 points in the fourth quarter as the Wolves (14-15), down by 20 points midway through the second quarter, outscored the Bobcats 34-18 over those final 12 minutes. The nine-time All-Star forward stayed on the court for the entire second half and still had enough at the end to hit a 14-footer from out front to seal it.
The strong finish made up for such missteps as a 16-2 Charlotte run to close the first quarter, followed immediately by a 17-8 start to the second. It tied the third-biggest comeback in franchise history.
With the old leather basketball, to boot.
"We don't want to start games like that, but it feels good to have one of these, what we call 'bar brawl' type of games," Garnett said. "... The second half, I felt like we were a lot more aggressive defensively. Taking away some of the things they wanted to do early and making them go to their second and third options."
After Matt Carroll sank two free throws to make it 99-96 with 38.8 seconds left, rookie guard Randy Foye and Garnett played a two-man game, Garnett popping out for that jumper that pushed the lead to five and, just as important, took nearly 23 seconds off the clock.
But Garnett was right: It was more intensity on defense that paid off. Charlotte (9-22), in surrendering a 20-point lead for the second time in two weeks, had relied on guard Raymond Felton to penetrate and break down the Minnesota defense, with Carroll and Adam Morrison hitting over the top. But in the fourth quarter, Felton scored two points on 1-for-5 shooting, Morrison was scoreless and the Bobcats turned over the ball nine times, leading to 16 of the visitors' points.
Carroll, with 23 points, nailed five of his eight three-pointers and led a Charlotte bench that outscored the Wolves' 39-10. But they got 25 points from Ricky Davis and 21 from Mark Blount, with Davis adding seven assists and seven rebounds.
Garnett, meanwhile, shot 12-for-18, breaking out of a slump.
"Knowing that I do some things well, I don't really work on the stuff as much as I should have. I work on things I'm not good at all the time, and yesterday I worked on some of the things that I do well," Garnett said of the team's practice Sunday. "Just the old-fashioned attitude -- I didn't feel like my last two games up to this one were up to par.
"Hallelujah for the [leather] ball, and we brought in '07 with a win, so it was a pretty decent night."
Steve Aschburner • saschburner@startribune.com
wolves/nba
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