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MINNEAPOLIS (Ticker) -- Basketball was the last thing on the minds of the Minnesota Timberwolves. Kevin Garnett collected 28 points and 12 rebounds as the Timberwolves defeated the Sacramento Kings, 99-91, on an emotional night when the late Malik Sealy was remembered in a pregame ceremony. "The game was definitely second fiddle to Malik and the type of person he was," Timberwolves foward Wally Szczerbiak said. "I think as professionals, he would have wanted us to go out there and win the ballgame." Sealy was killed in an automobile crash in the summer and the Timberwolves honored his memory in a 30-minute tribute prior to their home opener. "I was emotionally drained, not really knowing what to do, like you really want to run off the court and go hide," Minnesota guard Anthony Peeler said. "But you still got to be a man and step up and be professional about the situation." Sacramento's Bobby Jackson knew what his former teammates were experiencing. "When you have a terrible loss like that, it's going to affect everybody that was involved with Malik," Jackson said. "I know it's going to be with me for a while." On the court, Garnett outplayed Chris Webber in the battle of marquee players. He registered 17 points in the first half, when the Timberwolves raced to a 63-44 lead. Sacramento got no closer than seven points early in the fourth quarter. Webber averaged 27 points in Sacramento's first three games but was held to 15 on 6-of-19 shooting tonight. He scored just four in the first half before trying to rally the Kings in the third quarter. Minnesota responded following the tribute to Sealy, opening its biggest lead at 73-50 on Szczerbiak's 3-pointer with 8:42 left in the third quarter. Szczerbiak and Terrell Brandon scored 16 points apiece for the Timberwolves, who have won six straight home games against Sacramento and nine of the last 12 overall. Peja Stojakovic scored 22 points and Vlade Divac added 20 for the Kings, who split a rugged season-opening road trip in which it played four games in five days, all against teams hosting their home openers. "Our goal is to win more than 50 games and play better on the road than last year," Divac said. Sacramento again was without flashy point guard Jason Williams, who is serving a five-game suspension for failing to comply with the league's drug policy. Williams will miss Monday's home game against Portland before returning. The Timberwolves hit a lull in the third quarter, scoring only 16 points and allowing Sacramento back in it. Garnett was the only player to score for Minnesota over the final seven minutes of the period. "I think our team is good enough where we can hold leads," said Szczerbiak. "We just can't start playing passive and that's what we started to do. We'll go back and learn from it. We don't want to give up 23-point leads and let them get back into the game. But it's early in the season and we still have to come together." Jackson's driving layup pulled Sacramento within 77-70 with 33 seconds left in the period before Garnett hit two foul shots to give Minnesota a 79-70 entering the final period. The Kings closed to seven for the final time at 81-74 on Jon Barry's 20-footer with 9:53 to play. Brandon's driving layup made it 95-82 with 4:13 to go. Sacramento got within 95-86 on Divac's two foul shots with 3:35 left but Chauncey Billups' two foul shots and Peeler's 17-footer gave Minnesota a comfortable 99-86 cushion with 1:32 remaining. "They're a great passing team with great spot-up shooters," Jackson said. "They move the ball, as they showed tonight. When you got guys like who can knock the ball down, then you're pretty much gonna win games." Sacramento opened its biggest lead, 10-4, on Divac's dunk with 8:10 left in the first quarter. But Garnett ended the period with seven straight points, staking the Timberwolves to a 32-23 lead they never relinquished.
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