http://www.nba.com/games/20040408/MINSAC/recap.html

  Minnesota 94, Sacramento 86
  Timberwolves Rally to Claim First Place

  SACRAMENTO, Calif., April 8 (Ticker) -- Sam Cassell and Kevin Garnett put
  the Minnesota Timberwolves in great position to secure home-court advant-
  age throughout the Western Conference playoffs.

  Cassell scored 29 points and Garnett added 24 and 17 rebounds as the Timber
  -wolves moved atop  the conference standings  with a 94-86 come-from-behind
  win over the Sacramento Kings.

  Minnesota (55-24), which has won six straight, moved one-half game ahead of
  Sacramento (54-24) atop the conference.  The Timberwolves won three of four
  meetings with the Kings this season and secure home-court advantage by tak-
  ing their final three contests.

  "As a kid, my mom told me it's easy to get to the top, (but) staying on top
  is the hardest thing to do," Garnett said. "I think that applies now. We're
  in a position to create our own destiny.  What we have to do now is sustain
  that and stay consistent with our play.  And that starts tomorrow night (at
  Golden State)."

  "I think they wanted to win and I think they controlled," Kings coach Rick
  Adelman said. "They've got the best record in the West and that's what they
  are trying to accomplish. This is a big win for them, so I'm sure they feel
  good about it."

  The Timberwolves trailed by 11 points just over four minutes into the second
  half and 69-61 heading to the fourth quarter.  But Garnett began the period
  with back-to-back baskets  and Wally Szczerbiak  nailed a 3-pointer to pull
  Minnesota within 69-68 with 10:06 left.

  "I told our guys at the beginning of the fourth quarter that we were in the
  exact same situation the last time we played here (a 112-109 overtime trium
  -ph on Dec. 5)," Minnesota coach Flip Saunders said. "We made some key shots
  , we put a little bit of  pressure on,  turned up the defense  a little bit.
  And we put us in a situation that you want down the stretch to have a chance
  to make some plays to win the game."

  The Timberwolves took the lead for good, 77-75, on a layup by Latrell Spre-
  well with 5:12 remaining. Cassell hit a jumper with 1:59 left to make it 83
  -79 before Sacramento's Mike Bibby missed a fast-break layup.

  "I missed a layup, I just missed it," Bibby said.

  The Timberwolves took advantage of the miscue,  opening a six-point lead on
  a follow shot by Ervin Johnson with 1:17 to play. Seemingly deflated by the
  sequence, Sacramento got no closer than four points.

  "We just hung in there," Cassell said. "We understand that we need to give
  ourselves a chance to win every night.  That's what we did tonight. In the
  third quarter,  they got off to a good run.  We cut the lead to four, they
  brought it back to nine.  but that showed  signs of  our ballclub  and the
  character this team has - to never give up."

  "Sam was rushing a lot of things (early)," Garnett said.  "Once he settled
  down and we kept it simple  and we started to  move the ball  a little bit,
  everyone got touches, from Kandi (Michael Olowokandi) to Spree and Sam also.
  Then it was just a matter of who took the shots and when they took them."

  The Kings were outrebounded, 48-40, and allowed Olowokandi to grab seven
  offensive rebounds, including three in the fourth quarter.

  "It concerns me - we lost - but it happens when you don't rebound the ball
  ," Adelman said. "We got impatient offensively. I know we took tough shots
  and they turned it up and made some big shots at their end, got the momen-
  tum going,  but I think for the most part  we played hard.  We just didn't
  play well enough."

  Chris Webber contributed 21 points and 11 rebounds and Bibby added 19 points
  for the Kings, who hold a one-game lead over the Los Angeles Lakers (53-23)
  atop the Pacific Division.

  "Screw it, this game is over - we are already looking to tomorrow's game (at
  Phoenix)," said Kings forward Brad Miller, who had eight points before foul-
  ing out with 4:18 remaining. "We still control our future in the Pacific. We
  got to make sure we take care of business there."

  "(Playing tomorrow) helps," said Kings guard Bobby Jackson, who had 10 poin
  -ts in his return  from a 24-game absence  with an abdominal strain. "Every
  game counts. We've got to try and end the season with four (wins) in a row."