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Home cookin' Hudson helps T'wolves win again at Target CenterPosted: Saturday February 22, 2003 1:56 AM
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- Troy Hudson spoiled Chauncey Billups' return. Hudson had 11 assists and 12 points, including two big field goals down the stretch, as the Minnesota Timberwolves defeated the Detroit Pistons 103-96 Friday night to set a franchise record with 13 consecutive home wins. "(Billups) punched early, but I punched late," said Hudson, who scored seven points in the final 1:20. "At the end I felt I had to retaliate." Billups, in his first time back at Target Center after leaving Minnesota for Detroit last summer, finished with 23 points and seven assists but was just 11-of-17 from the field. "This was just a lot of fun, no pressure at all," said Billups, who has made 40 straight free throws following an 11-for-11 night. "We beat them handily in Detroit and they came back hard at us tonight." Kevin Garnett had 34 points and 16 rebounds for the Timberwolves, who nearly blew a 24-point second-half lead -- which would have been the largest collapse in team history. Wally Szczerbiak added 20 points. "Troy goes with the flow and he came up big," Garnett said. "When Chauncey was going against him a little bit, I talked with Troy and made him a little more aggressive at the end. "It was a good, clean competition with Chauncey tonight." Consecutive 3-pointers by Detroit's Jon Barry made it 89-83, and Billups scored seven straight points to pull the Pistons to within 95-94 with 1:37 remaining. But, Hudson answered with a long jumper and a 3-pointer to give Minnesota a 100-94 lead with 48 seconds left. "Coach called my number and showed a lot of confidence in me," Hudson said. Garnett had his league-leading 44th double-double by halftime, with 11 points and 10 rebounds. Rasho Nesterovic finished with 12 points for Minnesota and tied his career high with 13 rebounds. Ben Wallace had 16 points and 12 rebounds and Richard Hamilton added 23 points for Detroit, which had won three in a row. "Sometimes it takes me a while to get it going," said Hamilton, who had 19 second-half points. "I think in the second half we moved the ball a lot better and I was getting some real good looks." Detroit got 15 points from Hamilton in the third quarter to close to 76-66. Garnett had 12 points in the quarter, but the Wolves were held scoreless during a five-minute stretch. Minnesota led 27-16 after one quarter behind Szczerbiak's 11 points. The Wolves held Detroit to just 6-for-19 (31.6 percent) shooting in the first. Gary Trent came off the bench to score nine points in the second quarter as the Timberwolves extended their lead to 55-36. "The bottom line is you can't only play for 24 minutes," said Detroit coach Rick Carlisle. "The first half we got completely outplayed." Notes: According to Minnesota coach Flip Saunders, the Timberwolves will probably sign guard Mike Wilks on Saturday for the remainder of the season. Wilks signed a 10-day contract with the Wolves on Feb. 12. ... Minnesota has won 18-of-23 games. ... The Timberwolves entered the game 0-7 against the East's top four teams (Detroit, Indiana, New Jersey, Boston). ... Minnesota previously won 12 straight at home over two seasons (Mar. 20, 1998 - Feb. 22, 1999). ... Detroit finished 20-for-27 from the foul line. ... The Pistons have lost nine of 10 to the Wolves. ... In its previous nine games, Detroit had outscored its opponents in the first half by an average of 12.3 points. |
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