Minnesota dominated the inside game, outrebounding the Hawks 56-34 and outscoring them 48-36 in the paint. The Timberwolves have beaten Atlanta in four straight and six of seven.
Shareef Abdur-Rahim scored 20 points for the Hawks, who dropped to 2-8 against Western Conference teams. Atlanta led by as many as eight in the first quarter on Abdur-Rahim's putback.
Garnett, who had a game-high eight assists, gave Minnesota the lead for good with a 3-pointer that made it 48-45 at the 3:47 mark of the second quarter.
Reserve forward Toni Kukoc scored 18 points, hitting a 3-pointer that cut Minnesota's lead to 93-87 with 8:05 remaining. Less than four minutes later, Chauncey Billups built the lead back to 12 points with a 3-pointer from the left corner.
Minnesota, which has won seven of eight, got 18 points from Billups and 14 points and nine rebounds from Gary Trent. Billups hit another 3 from the right wing with 2:44 left to give the Timberwolves a 13-point lead.
Szczerbiak had a game-high three steals.
Jason Terry added 16 points for the Hawks, who were outscored 23-10 on second-chance points.
Notes: Minnesota F Joe Smith missed his fourth straight game with a bruised left calf. Smith didn't make the trip. ... Flip Saunders won his 250th game as Minnesota coach. ... The Hawks dropped to 4-15 when scoring under 100 points, 3-13 when allowing 100 points. ... Coach Lon Kruger is now 0-3 against Minnesota. ... C Theo Ratliff, whose injured hip has kept him out for all but two games, is targeting Friday's game at Toronto as his return date.
http://accesswdun.com/article/2002/1/200570