2002–03 Minnesota Timberwolves season

The 2002–03 Minnesota Timberwolves season was the 14th season for the Minnesota Timberwolves in the National Basketball Association. During the off-season, the Timberwolves signed free agents Troy Hudson, Kendall Gill and Rod Strickland. However, prior to the start of the regular season, the team lost both Terrell Brandon, and Felipe López for the entire season due to knee injuries.

With the addition of Hudson, Gill and Strickland, and despite the loss of Brandon and López, the Timberwolves played around .500 in winning percentage with a 9–8 record in November. The team posted two six-game winning streaks in January and February, while posting a 12–1 record in February, and holding a 29–20 record at the All-Star break. The Timberwolves posted a seven-game winning streak between February and March, and finished in third place in the Midwest Division with a 51–31 record, earning the fourth seed in the Western Conference; the team qualified for the NBA playoffs for the seventh consecutive year.

Kevin Garnett averaged 23.0 points, 13.4 rebounds, 6.0 assists, 1.4 steals and 1.6 blocks per game, and was named to the All-NBA First Team, and to the NBA All-Defensive First Team. In addition, Wally Szczerbiak averaged 17.6 points per game, but only played 52 games due to injury, while Hudson provided the team with 14.2 points and 5.7 assists per game, Rasho Nesterovic provided with 11.2 points, 6.5 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game, and Gill contributed 8.7 points per game. Meanwhile, Anthony Peeler contributed 7.7 points per game, Joe Smith averaged 7.5 points and 5.0 rebounds per game, Strickland provided with 6.8 points and 4.6 assists per game, and Gary Trent contributed 6.0 points and 3.6 rebounds per game.

During the NBA All-Star weekend at the Philips Arena in Atlanta, Georgia, Garnett was selected for the 2003 NBA All-Star Game, as a member of the Western Conference All-Star team. Garnett scored 37 points along with 9 rebounds and 5 steals, and was named the NBA All-Star Game Most Valuable Player, as the Western Conference defeated the Eastern Conference in double-overtime, 155–145. Garnett finished in second place in Most Valuable Player voting, behind Tim Duncan of the San Antonio Spurs with 43 first-place votes, and also finished in third place in Defensive Player of the Year voting; Hudson finished in ninth place in Most Improved Player voting, while Garnett finished tied in 21st place, and Nesterovic finished tied in 26th place, and head coach Flip Saunders finished in fifth place in Coach of the Year voting.

In the Western Conference First Round of the 2003 NBA playoffs, the Timberwolves faced off against the 5th–seeded, and 3-time defending NBA champion Los Angeles Lakers, who were led by All-Star guard Kobe Bryant, All-Star center Shaquille O'Neal, and Derek Fisher. The Timberwolves lost Game 1 to the Lakers at home, 117–98 at the Target Center, but managed to win the next two games, which included a Game 3 road win over the Lakers at the Staples Center in overtime, 114–110 to take a 2–1 series lead. However, the Timberwolves lost the next three games, including a Game 6 loss to the Lakers at the Staples Center, 101–85, thus losing the series in six games; it was the seventh consecutive year that the Timberwolves lost in the opening round of the NBA playoffs.

The Timberwolves finished 18th in the NBA in home-game attendance, with an attendance of 643,684 at the Target Center during the regular season. Following the season, Smith was traded to the Milwaukee Bucks, while Peeler signed as a free agent with the Sacramento Kings, Gill signed with the Chicago Bulls, Brandon was traded to the Atlanta Hawks, and Strickland was released to free agency.

Draft picks

Round Pick Player Position Nationality College 1 29 Forfeited pick 2 52 Marcus Taylor PG Michigan State

Roster

Roster notes Point guard Terrell Brandon was on the injured reserve list due to a knee injury, and missed the entire regular season. Shooting guard Felipe Lopez was on the injured reserve list due to a torn ACL, and MCL in his left knee, and missed the entire regular season.

Regular season

Season standings

z - clinched division title y - clinched division title x - clinched playoff spot

Game log

Playoffs

Player statistics

Regular season PlayerPF82 82 3,321 1,102 495 113 129 1,883 40.5 13.4 6.0 1.4 1.6 23.0SG82 39 2,245 241 244 72 13 630 27.4 2.9 3.0 .9 .2 7.7SG82 34 2,068 248 156 78 15 714 25.2 3.0 1.9 1.0 .2 8.7SF 80 22 1,222 291 77 32 23 476 15.3 3.6 1.0 .4 .3 6.0PG 79 74 2,600 183 452 60 7 1,123 32.9 2.3 5.7 .8 .1 14.2C 77 77 2,337 504 114 39 116 861 30.4 6.5 1.5 .5 1.5 11.2C 77 0 1,041 225 37 24 30 421 13.5 2.9 .5 .3 .4 5.5SF 54 21 1,117 270 38 14 55 404 20.7 5.0 .7 .3 1.0 7.5SF 52 42 1,836 241 136 44 22 913 35.3 4.6 2.6 .8 .4 17.6PG 47 8 956 95 215 46 6 320 20.3 2.0 4.6 1.0 .1 6.8PG 42 0 244 17 33 4 0 78 5.8 .4 .8 .1 .0 1.9C 38 11 353 95 19 10 13 80 9.3 2.5 .5 .3 .3 2.1†PG 31 0 324 30 50 11 3 62 10.5 1.0 1.6 .4 .1 2.0PF 26 0 141 31 4 6 1 81 5.4 1.2 .2 .2 .0 3.1

Playoffs PlayerPF6 6 265 94 31 10 10 162 44.2 15.7 5.2 1.7 1.7 27.0SF6 6 252 30 13 6 1 87 42.0 5.0 2.2 1.0 .2 14.5PG6 6 221 12 33 8 0 141 36.8 2.0 5.5 1.3 .0 23.5C6 6 169 30 4 1 4 42 28.2 5.0 .7 .2 .7 7.0SG6 5 166 21 18 4 1 29 27.7 3.5 3.0 .7 .2 4.8SG6 0 118 13 7 4 1 31 19.7 2.2 1.2 .7 .2 5.2C6 0 110 33 8 2 1 50 18.3 5.5 1.3 .3 .2 8.3PG6 0 73 6 17 4 2 28 12.2 1.0 2.8 .7 .3 4.7SF6 0 42 7 1 1 0 14 7.0 1.2 .2 .2 .0 2.3SF 5 1 40 6 0 1 1 14 8.0 1.2 .0 .2 .2 2.8PG 4 0 7 0 0 0 0 3 1.8 .0 .0 .0 .0 .8C 2 0 2 1 0 0 0 2 1.0 .5 .0 .0 .0 1.0

Awards and records Kevin Garnett, All-NBA First Team Kevin Garnett, NBA All-Defensive First Team Kevin Garnett, NBA All-Star Game Most Valuable Player Award

References

2002–03 Minnesota Timberwolves season

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