Pippen gets off deck to sink T-Wolves

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) -- The trade that brought Scottie Pippen and his 
six NBA championships to the Portland Trail Blazers never looked 
better than it did Sunday. 


Pippen, showing the kind of playoff leadership the Blazers have 
lacked for years, scored a season-high 28 points and helped hold the 
Minnesota Timberwolves to 13 points in the fourth quarter as 
Portland rallied for a 91-88 victory Game 1 of the best-of-five 
series.

"I tried to step up my game and put all my energy into coming out 
and being aggressive, and doing whatever it takes for us to win -- 
by any means necessary," Pippen said.  

The Blazers trailed 75-69 to start the fourth quarter, but came back 
when Minnesota, which had been making its jump shots all game, 
suddenly started forcing them. 

Pippen, who spent a miserable season in Houston last year after 
helping Michael Jordan win six titles in Chicago, showed his old 
playoff grit late in the game. He drove to the basket and was hit 
across the right side of the face by Anthony Peeler with 1:26 left. 
Pippen grimaced in pain, but still made his foul shots for an 87-82 
lead. 

"I thought Pippen was unbelievable," Timberwolves coach Flip 
Saunders said. "I saw a lot of stuff in the paper about how they got 
Scottie for this situation, and he got them off to a great start. He 
was phenomenal." 

The Timberwolves got within three twice, on two free throws by Malik 
Sealy and a drive by Terrell Brandon. But Pippen and Detlef Schrempf 
combined for four free throws in the final 16 seconds to seal it. 

Sealy had 23 points to lead the Timberwolves. Garnett had 12 points, 
a career high-tying 11 assists, and 10 rebounds, but he shot just 6-
of-20, including 1-for-5 in the fourth quarter. Brandon had 17 
points and 12 assists. 

The Timberwolves, who have never won a playoff series in their 11-
year history, fell to 0-4 in openers. 

"We always seem to be in position to win at the end, but for some 
reason we can't seem to come through," Garnett said. 

Blazers center Arvydas Sabonis had a horrible start, missing his 
first six shots and getting into foul trouble. His first basket came 
with 10:35 to play, and it pulled the Blazers to 75-71. 

That seemed to energize the 7-foot-3 Lithuanian. He sank a 20-foot 
jumper and hit one of two free throws after bowling over Joe Smith, 
who had to leave the game after hitting his head on the court. 

Sabonis then fed Rasheed Wallace for a layup and a foul with 5:16 
left, and Wallace's free throw gave the Blazers their first lead 
since halftime, 81-79. 

The Timberwolves hurt themselves by shooting just 26 percent in the 
fourth quarter and turning over the ball five times after committing 
just seven in the first three periods. 

"Those guys can shoot. If you're not getting to their jumpers, 
they're going to make shots, pure and simple," said Greg Anthony, 
who held Brandon to just two points on 1-of-4 shooting in the fourth. 

Minnesota also had been 20-0 on the road when leading after three 
quarters, but that streak came to an abrupt halt. 

The Timberwolves were second only to the Blazers in field-goal 
shooting this season, but were just 17th in 3-point percentage. 
Showing strong discipline, Minnesota took just two 3s in the first 
half -- missing both -- preferring makeable mid-range jumpers. 

That all fell apart in the fourth. After a 20-foot jumper by Sealy 
put Minnesota ahead 79-75 with 8:12 left, the Timberwolves missed 10 
of 11 shots until Brandon's layup with 9.2 seconds left. Eight of 
those misses were long jumpers, including two airballs. 

The first quarter belonged to Pippen, who scored 13 points and hit 
six of seven shots. Three of those were superb inside baskets. First 
he drove and dunked left-handed over Wally Szczerbiak, then had a 
more emphatic slam over Radoslav Nesterovic. Later he went up in the 
air, switched the ball to his left and laid it off the glass. 

"Even I was impressed with how strong he took the ball to the 
basket," Portland coach Mike Dunleavy said. "He was the big key for 
us, getting off to a good start, and late in the game, he kept the 
attack mode on." 

Pippen also hit an open 3-pointer and sank two more long jumpers in 
the final 1:27. After the Timberwolves made the mistake of double-
teaming Schrempf inside, Damon Stoudamire wound up with a wide-open 
3-pointer to cap a 16-4 run and give the Blazers a 33-22 lead. 

It didn't take long for the Timberwolves to come back. Peeler scored 
the team's first five points, and Brandon hit two mid-range jumpers 
as Portland hit just one field goal in the first 6{ minutes. A short 
hook by Nesterovic capped a 13-2 run and tied it at 35. 

Pippen hit a 3, and the teams traded leads four times the rest of the 
half. Garnett launched a 20-footer over Wallace that dropped in at 
the buzzer to pull Minnesota within 48-47. 

Game notes
Portland's Bonzi Wells, a valuable backup to Steve Smith during the 
regular season, struggled in his first playoff game. He had zero 
points on 0-for-2 shooting as Minnesota held a 19-4 edge in bench 
scoring. ... Smith has made 43 of his last 47 postseason free throws, 
dating to last season with Atlanta.