The 1990–91 Minnesota Timberwolves season was the second season for the Minnesota Timberwolves in the National Basketball Association.
Season summary
Off-season After finishing their inaugural season with a 22–60 record, the Timberwolves received the sixth overall pick in the 1990 NBA draft, and selected center Felton Spencer from the University of Louisville. During the off-season, the team acquired Scott Brooks from the Philadelphia 76ers. After playing one season at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome, the Timberwolves moved into their new arena known as the Target Center, which opened on October 13, 1990.
Regular season The Timberwolves played their first game at the Target Center in their regular season opener on November 2, 1990, defeating the Dallas Mavericks by a score of 98–85, in front of a sellout crowd of 19,006 fans in attendance. Despite the addition of Spencer, the team continued to struggle in their second season, posting a seven-game losing streak in December, and later on holding a 16–29 record at the All-Star break. The Timberwolves won six of their final eight games of the season, and finished in fifth place in the Midwest Division with a 29–53 record, which was a seven-game improvement over their inaugural season.
Tony Campbell averaged 21.8 points and 1.6 steals per game, while Tyrone Corbin averaged 18.0 points, 7.2 rebounds, 4.2 assists and 2.0 steals per game, and second-year star Pooh Richardson provided the team with 17.1 points, 9.0 assists and 1.6 steals per game. In addition, second-year forward Sam Mitchell contributed 14.6 points and 6.3 rebounds per game, while Spencer provided with 7.1 points, 7.9 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game, and was named to the NBA All-Rookie Second Team. Meanwhile, rookie shooting guard, and first-round draft pick Gerald Glass contributed 6.9 points per game, Randy Breuer averaged 5.9 points, 4.7 blocks and 1.1 blocks per game, Brooks contributed 5.3 points and 2.6 assists per game, and Tod Murphy provided with 4.8 points and 4.9 rebounds per game.
The Timberwolves finished third in the NBA in home-game attendance, with an attendance of 779,530 at the Target Center during the regular season.
Aftermath Following the season, head coach Bill Musselman was fired after two seasons with the franchise.
Draft picks
Round Pick Player Position Nationality College 1 6 Felton Spencer C Louisville 1 20 Gerald Glass SG/SF Ole Miss
Roster
Regular season
Season standings
y - clinched division title x - clinched playoff spot
z - clinched division title y - clinched division title x - clinched playoff spot
Game log Regular season
| 2 | November 3 | @ Milwaukee |- | 3 | November 6 | @ Indiana |- | 4 | November 7 | Chicago | L 91–96
| Target Center | 1–3 |- | 7 | November 13 | @ Houston |- | 9 | November 18 | Utah | L 94–103
| Target Center | 3–6 |- | 11 | November 21 | @ San Antonio |- | 12 | November 25 | Houston |- | 14 | November 29 | @ Portland | L 92–107
| Memorial Coliseum | 5–9 |- | 15 | November 30 | @ Utah | L 79–96
| Salt Palace | 5–10
| 17 | December 4 | Indiana |- | 18 | December 6 | L.A. Lakers | L 73–83
| Target Center | 6–12 |- | 20 | December 13 | New York |- | 21 | December 15 | San Antonio |- | 23 | December 19 | @ Phoenix |- | 24 | December 22 | @ Golden State | L 102–115
| Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum Arena | 7–17 |- | 25 | December 23 | @ L.A. Lakers | L 94–118
| Great Western Forum | 7–18 |- | 26 | December 28 | Detroit | L 85–97
| Target Center | 7–19 |- | 27 | December 30 | Seattle
| 30 | January 5 | @ Atlanta |- | 31 | January 7 | Phoenix |- | 34 | January 15 | Portland | L 117–132
| Target Center | 11–23 |- | 35 | January 16 | @ New York |- | 36 | January 19 | Golden State | W 121–113
| Target Center | 13–23 |- | 38 | January 24 | @ Houston |- | 39 | January 26 | @ San Antonio |- | 40 | January 28 | Boston | L 87–108
| Target Center | 13–27
| 43 | February 3 | Philadelphia | W 110–102 (2OT)
| Target Center | 15–28 |- | 44 | February 5 | Utah | W 94–93
| Target Center | 16–28 |- | 46 | February 12 | @ Golden State | L 105–126
| Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum Arena | 16–30 |- | 47 | February 13 | @ L.A. Lakers | L 106–120
| Great Western Forum | 16–31 |- | 49 | February 16 | @ Utah | L 107–115
| Salt Palace | 16–33 |- | 51 | February 20 | Golden State | L 105–108
| Target Center | 17–34 |- | 53 | February 24 | Houston |- | 54 | February 27 | @ Boston | L 111–116
| Boston Garden | 18–37
| 57 | March 5 | L.A. Lakers | W 94–85
| Target Center | 19–38 |- | 58 | March 7 | Seattle |- | 59 | March 10 | Phoenix |- | 60 | March 12 | @ Chicago | L 99–131
| Chicago Stadium | 19–41 |- | 62 | March 15 | @ Seattle |- | 64 | March 19 | Houston |- | 67 | March 23 | @ Utah | L 89–95
| Salt Palace | 22–45 |- | 68 | March 26 | @ Phoenix |- | 69 | March 29 | @ Seattle |- | 70 | March 30 | @ Portland | L 91–121
| Memorial Coliseum | 22–48
| 71 | April 2 | Portland | L 93–104
| Target Center | 22–49 |- | 73 | April 5 | @ Detroit | L 82–101
| The Palace of Auburn Hills | 23–50 |- | 74 | April 7 | San Antonio |- | 76 | April 11 | Atlanta |- | 78 | April 14 | @ Philadelphia | W 96–88
| The Spectrum | 26–52 |- | 81 | April 19 | Milwaukee
Player statistics
Ragular season PlayerSF82 82 3,196 589 347 162 53 1,472 39.0 7.2 4.2 2.0 .6 18.0PG82 82 3,154 286 734 131 13 1,401 38.5 3.5 9.0 1.6 .2 17.1PF82 60 3,121 520 133 66 57 1,197 38.1 6.3 1.6 .8 .7 14.6C 81 46 2,099 641 25 48 121 572 25.9 7.9 .3 .6 1.5 7.1PG 80 0 980 72 204 53 5 424 12.3 .9 2.6 .7 .1 5.3SG 77 71 2,893 346 214 121 48 1,678 37.6 4.5 2.8 1.6 .6 21.8SG 75 1 824 136 48 35 23 294 11.0 1.8 .6 .5 .3 3.9C 73 44 1,505 345 73 35 80 429 20.6 4.7 1.0 .5 1.1 5.9PF 52 19 1,063 255 60 25 20 251 20.4 4.9 1.2 .5 .4 4.8SF 52 1 320 79 3 6 4 68 6.2 1.5 .1 .1 .1 1.3SF 51 3 606 102 42 28 9 352 11.9 2.0 .8 .5 .2 6.9PF 12 1 110 15 1 0 3 16 9.2 1.3 .1 .0 .3 1.3C 10 0 20 2 0 1 4 13 2.0 .2 .0 .1 .4 1.3SG 3 0 14 0 1 1 0 2 4.7 .0 .3 .3 .0 .7
Awards and records Felton Spencer, NBA All-Rookie Team 2nd Team
References
See also 1990-91 NBA season