1998–99 Minnesota Timberwolves season

The 1998–99 NBA season was the 10th season for the Minnesota Timberwolves in the National Basketball Association.^[1] Due to a lockout, the regular season began on February 5, 1999, and was cut from 82 games to 50.^[2]

1998–99 Minnesota Timberwolves season
Head coach	Flip Saunders
General manager	Kevin McHale
Owner(s)	Glen Taylor
Arena	Target Center
Results
Record	25–25 (.500)
Place	Division: 4th (Midwest) Conference: 8th (Western)
Playoff finish	First round (lost to Spurs 1–3)
Stats at Basketball Reference
Local media
Television	KARE KMWB Midwest Sports Channel
Radio	KFAN
< 1997–98 1999–00 >

During the off-season, the Timberwolves signed free agents Joe Smith,^[3][4][5] and Malik Sealy,^[6][5][7] and acquired second-year guard Bobby Jackson, and former Timberwolves center Dean Garrett from the Denver Nuggets in a three-team trade during the off-season.^[8]

In a three-team mid-season trade, the Timberwolves traded Stephon Marbury and Chris Carr to the New Jersey Nets, and acquired Terrell Brandon from the Milwaukee Bucks,^{[9][10][11][12]} while signing free agent and three-point specialist Dennis Scott, who was previously released by the New York Knicks.^[13][14][15] The Timberwolves got off to a fast start by winning eight of their first ten games of the regular season, but played below .500 basketball for the remainder of the season. The team finished in fourth place in the Midwest Division with a 25–25 record, and made their third consecutive trip to the NBA playoffs, winning a tie-breaker for the #8 seed in the Western Conference over the Seattle SuperSonics, who finished with the same record during the regular season.^[16]

Kevin Garnett averaged 20.8 points, 10.4 rebounds and 1.8 blocks per game, and was named to the All-NBA Third Team, while Smith averaged 13.7 points, 8.2 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game, and Sam Mitchell provided the team with 11.2 points per game. In addition, Anthony Peeler contributed 9.6 points per game in only 28 games due to a strained left calf injury,^[17][18] while off the bench, Sealy contributed 8.1 points per game in only 31 games, Jackson provided with 7.1 points and 3.3 assists per game, and Garrett, the team's starting center, averaged 5.5 points and 5.2 rebounds per game.^[19]

However, in the Western Conference First Round of the 1999 NBA playoffs, the T-Wolves would lose in four games to the San Antonio Spurs.^{[20][21][22][23]} The Spurs would reach the NBA Finals for the first time to defeat the 8th-seeded New York Knicks in five games, winning their first ever championship.^{[24][25][26][27][28]} Following the season, Scott signed with the Vancouver Grizzlies.^[29]

For the season, the Timberwolves added new black alternate road uniforms, which would remain in use until 2008.^[30]

Draft picks

Main article: 1998 NBA draft

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	College
1	17	Rasho Nesterovič	C	Slovenia	Kinder Bologna (Italy)
2	46	Andrae Patterson	PF/C	United States	Indiana

Roster

1998–99 Minnesota Timberwolves roster

Players

Coaches

Pos. No. Player Height Weight DOB From PG 7 Terrell Brandon 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 1970–05–20 Oregon PF 15 Bill Curley 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 220 lb (100 kg) 1972–05–29 Boston College PF 21 Kevin Garnett 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 220 lb (100 kg) 1976–05–19 Farragut Academy (IL) C 22 Dean Garrett 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 225 lb (102 kg) 1966–11–27 Indiana PF 20 Tom Hammonds 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 215 lb (98 kg) 1967–03–27 Georgia Tech PG 24 Bobby Jackson 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1973–03–13 Minnesota SG 31 Reggie Jordan 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 1968–01–26 New Mexico State SF 42 Sam Mitchell 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 210 lb (95 kg) 1963–09–02 Mercer C 8 Rasho Nesterović 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) 255 lb (116 kg) 1976–05–30 Slovenia PF 45 Andrae Patterson 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 238 lb (108 kg) 1975–11–12 Indiana SG 1 Anthony Peeler 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 208 lb (94 kg) 1969–11–25 Missouri PG 26 James Robinson 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 1970–08–31 Alabama SF 3 Dennis Scott 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 229 lb (104 kg) 1968–09–05 Georgia Tech SF 2 Malik Sealy 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 200 lb (91 kg) 1970–02–01 St. John's C 32 Joe Smith 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 225 lb (102 kg) 1975–07–26 Maryland

Head coach Flip Saunders Assistant(s) Greg Ballard Jerry Sichting Randy Wittman Legend (DP) Unsigned draft pick (FA) Free agent (S) Suspended Injured Roster Updated: May 4, 1999

Regular season

Season standings

Midwest Division v t e	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Road	Div
y-San Antonio Spurs	37	13	.740	–	21–4	16–9	17–4
x-Utah Jazz	37	13	.740	–	22–3	15–10	15–3
x-Houston Rockets	31	19	.620	6	19–6	12–13	12–9
x-Minnesota Timberwolves	25	25	.500	12	18–7	7–18	11–9
Dallas Mavericks	19	31	.380	18	15–10	4–21	8–12
Denver Nuggets	14	36	.280	23	12–13	2–23	5–16
Vancouver Grizzlies	8	42	.160	29	7–18	1–24	3–18

#	Western Conference v t e
	Team	W	L	PCT	GB
1	z-San Antonio Spurs	37	13	.740	–
2	y-Portland Trail Blazers	35	15	.700	2
3	x-Utah Jazz	37	13	.740	–
4	x-Los Angeles Lakers	31	19	.620	6
5	x-Houston Rockets	31	19	.620	6
6	x-Sacramento Kings	27	23	.540	10
7	x-Phoenix Suns	27	23	.540	10
8	x-Minnesota Timberwolves	25	25	.500	12
9	Seattle SuperSonics	25	25	.500	12
10	Golden State Warriors	21	29	.420	16
11	Dallas Mavericks	19	31	.380	18
12	Denver Nuggets	14	36	.280	23
13	Los Angeles Clippers	9	41	.180	28
14	Vancouver Grizzlies	8	42	.160	29

z - clinched division title

y - clinched division title

x - clinched playoff spot

Record vs. opponents

1998-99 NBA Records
Team	ATL	BOS	CHA	CHI	CLE	DAL	DEN	DET	GSW	HOU	IND	LAC	LAL	MIA	MIL	MIN	NJN	NYK	ORL	PHI	PHO	POR	SAC	SAS	SEA	TOR	UTA	VAN	WAS
Atlanta	—	3–0	3–0	3–1	2–1	0–1	0–0	1–2	0–0	1–0	3–1	1–0	0–0	0–3	1–2	0–0	1–2	2–1	2–2	2–1	1–0	0–0	0–0	0–0	0–0	2–1	0–0	1–0	2–1
Boston	0–3	—	1–2	2–1	2–2	0–0	1–0	0–3	0–0	0–0	0–3	1–0	0–0	3–0	0–3	0–1	1–2	1–2	1–2	1–2	0–0	0–1	0–1	0–0	0–0	1–2	0–0	1–0	3–1
Charlotte	0–3	2–1	—	2–1	2–1	0–0	0–0	3–0	0–1	0–0	1–2	0–0	0–1	1–2	2–2	0–0	3–0	1–3	1–2	1–2	1–0	1–0	0–0	0–0	0–0	2–1	1–0	0–0	2–1
Chicago	1–3	1–2	1–2	—	0–3	0–1	0–0	0–3	0–0	0–0	0–3	1–0	0–0	1–2	1–3	0–0	2–1	1–2	0–3	1–2	0–0	0–0	0–0	0–1	0–1	1–2	0–1	1–0	1–2
Cleveland	1–2	2–2	1–2	3–0	—	0–0	0–0	1–2	1–0	0–1	0–3	0–0	1–0	0–3	1–2	0–0	3–0	1–2	1–2	1–2	1–0	0–0	0–0	1–0	0–0	2–2	0–1	0–0	1–2
Dallas	1–0	0–0	0–0	1–0	0–0	—	2–1	0–1	2–2	2–2	0–0	3–0	0–3	0–1	0–0	1–2	0–1	0–0	1–0	0–0	1–3	0–3	2–2	1–3	0–3	0–0	0–3	2–1	0–0
Denver	0–0	0–1	0–0	0–0	0–0	1–2	—	0–0	1–3	0–4	0–1	3–0	1–2	0–1	1–0	0–3	1–0	0–0	0–0	0–0	0–3	0–3	0–3	0–4	2–2	0–0	1–2	3–1	0–1
Detroit	2–1	3–0	0–3	3–0	2–1	1–0	0–0	—	0–0	0–0	2–1	0–0	0–0	2–1	2–1	0–1	2–1	2–1	0–4	1–3	1–0	0–0	0–0	0–1	1–0	2–1	1–0	0–0	2–1
Golden State	0–0	0–0	1–0	0–0	0–1	2–2	3–1	0–0	—	0–3	1–0	2–1	1–2	0–0	0–1	2–2	0–0	0–0	0–1	0–0	1–2	2–2	1–2	0–3	1–2	0–0	0–4	4–0	0–0
Houston	0–1	0–0	0–0	0–0	1–0	2–2	4–0	0–0	3–0	—	0–0	3–1	1–2	0–1	0–0	2–1	1–0	0–0	0–1	0–0	2–2	2–1	3–0	0–3	2–1	1–0	0–3	4–0	0–0
Indiana	1–2	3–0	2–1	3–0	3–0	0–0	1–0	1–2	0–1	0–0	—	0–0	1–0	2–2	3–0	0–0	3–1	2–1	1–2	1–2	0–0	0–1	0–0	0–0	0–0	2–1	0–0	1–0	3–0
L.A. Clippers	0–1	0–1	0–0	0–1	0–0	0–3	0–3	0–0	1–2	1–3	0–0	—	0–4	0–0	0–0	2–2	1–0	0–1	0–0	0–0	0–3	1–2	1–2	0–3	0–3	0–1	1–3	1–3	0–0
L.A. Lakers	0–0	0–0	1–0	0–0	0–1	3–0	2–1	0–0	2–1	2–1	0–1	4–0	—	0–0	0–0	2–1	0–0	1–0	1–0	0–1	3–1	2–2	1–2	2–1	2–2	0–0	1–3	2–1	0–0
Miami	3–0	0–3	2–1	2–1	3–0	1–0	1–0	1–2	0–0	1–0	2–2	0–0	0–0	—	2–1	0–1	3–1	2–2	2–1	2–1	0–0	0–0	0–0	0–0	0–0	3–0	0–1	0–0	3–0
Milwaukee	2–1	3–0	2–2	3–1	2–1	0–0	0–1	1–2	1–0	0–0	0–3	0–0	0–0	1–2	—	1–0	2–1	2–1	1–2	1–2	0–1	0–0	0–0	0–0	1–0	3–1	0–0	0–0	2–1
Minnesota	0–0	1–0	0–0	0–0	0–0	2–1	3–0	1–0	2–2	1–2	0–0	2–2	1–2	1–0	0–1	—	0–0	0–1	0–0	0–0	1–2	0–3	3–1	2–2	2–1	0–1	0–3	3–1	0–0
New Jersey	2–1	2–1	0–3	1–2	0–3	1–0	0–1	1–2	0–0	0–1	1–3	0–1	0–0	1–3	1–2	0–0	—	0–3	0–3	1–2	0–0	0–1	0–0	0–0	1–0	2–1	0–0	0–0	2–1
New York	1–2	2–1	3–1	2–1	2–1	0–0	0–0	1–2	0–0	0–0	1–2	1–0	0–1	2–2	1–2	1–0	3–0	—	0–3	3–1	1–0	0–0	0–1	0–0	0–0	1–2	0–0	0–0	2–1
Orlando	2–2	2–1	2–1	3–0	2–1	0–1	0–0	4–0	1–0	1–0	2–1	0–0	0–1	1–2	2–1	0–0	3–0	3–0	—	1–2	0–0	0–0	1–0	0–1	0–0	1–2	0–0	0–0	2–1
Philadelphia	1–2	2–1	2–1	2–1	2–1	0–0	0–0	3–1	0–0	0–0	2–1	0–0	1–0	1–2	2–1	0–0	2–1	1–3	2–1	—	0–0	0–1	1–0	0–1	0–1	2–1	0–0	1–0	1–2
Phoenix	0–1	0–0	0–1	0–0	0–1	3–1	3–0	0–1	2–1	2–2	0–0	3–0	1–3	0–0	1–0	2–1	0–0	0–1	0–0	0–0	—	0–3	0–3	2–2	3–0	0–0	2–2	3–0	0–0
Portland	0–0	1–0	0–1	0–0	0–0	3–0	3–0	0–0	2–2	1–2	1–0	2–1	2–2	0–0	0–0	3–0	1–0	0–0	0–0	1–0	3–0	—	4–0	1–3	2–2	0–0	1–2	4–0	0–0
Sacramento	0–0	1–0	1–0	0–0	0–0	2–2	3–0	0–0	2–1	0–3	0–0	2–1	2–1	0–0	0–0	1–3	0–0	1–0	0–1	0–1	3–0	0–4	—	1–2	2–2	0–0	1–2	4–0	1–0
San Antonio	0–0	0–0	0–0	1–0	0–1	3–1	4–0	1–0	3–0	3–0	0–0	3–0	1–2	0–0	0–0	2–2	0–0	0–0	1–0	1–0	2–2	3–1	2–1	—	2–1	0–1	2–1	3–0	0–0
Seattle	0–0	0–0	0–0	1–0	0–0	3–0	2–2	0–1	2–1	1–2	0–0	3–0	2–2	0–0	0–1	1–2	0–1	0–0	0–0	1–0	0–3	2–2	2–2	1–2	—	0–0	2–2	2–1	0–1
Toronto	1–2	2–1	1–2	2–1	2–2	0–0	0–0	1–2	0–0	0–1	1–2	1–0	0–0	0–3	1–3	1–0	1–2	2–1	2–1	1–2	0–0	0–0	0–0	1–0	0–0	—	0–0	1–0	2–2
Utah	0–0	0–0	0–1	1–0	1–0	3–0	2–1	0–1	4–0	3–0	0–0	3–1	3–1	1–0	0–0	3–0	0–0	0–0	0–0	0–0	2–2	2–1	2–1	1–2	2–2	0–0	—	3–0	1–0
Vancouver	0–1	0–1	0–0	0–1	0–0	1–2	1–3	0–0	0–3	0–4	0–1	3–1	1–2	0–0	0–0	1–3	0–0	0–0	0–0	0–1	0–3	0–3	0–4	0–3	1–2	0–1	0–3	—	0–0
Washington	1–2	1–3	1–2	2–1	2–1	0–0	1–0	1–2	0–1	0–0	0–3	0–0	0–0	0–3	1–2	0–0	1–2	1–2	1–2	2–1	0–0	0–1	0–1	0–0	1–0	2–2	0–1	0–0	—

Game log

Playoffs

1999 playoff game log
First Round: 1–3 (home: 0–2; road: 1–1) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Series 1 May 9 @ San Antonio L 86–99 Kevin Garnett (21) Brandon, Garnett (8) Terrell Brandon (11) Alamodome 22,356 0–1 2 May 11 @ San Antonio W 80–71 Kevin Garnett (23) Kevin Garnett (12) Terrell Brandon (9) Alamodome 22,494 1–1 3 May 13 San Antonio L 71–85 Kevin Garnett (23) Kevin Garnett (12) three players tied (2) Target Center 17,444 1–2 4 May 15 San Antonio L 85–92 Terrell Brandon (27) Kevin Garnett (6) Brandon, Garnett (6) Target Center 15,898 1–3
1999 schedule

Player statistics

Regular season

Player	POS	GP	GS	MP	REB	AST	STL	BLK	PTS	MPG	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
Sam Mitchell	SF	50	20	1,344	182	98	35	16	561	26.9	3.6	2.0	.7	.3	11.2
Bobby Jackson	PG	50	12	941	135	167	39	3	353	18.8	2.7	3.3	.8	.1	7.1
Dean Garrett	C	49	37	1,054	257	28	30	45	270	21.5	5.2	.6	.6	.9	5.5
Tom Hammonds	PF	49	0	716	136	20	8	7	212	14.6	2.8	.4	.2	.1	4.3
Kevin Garnett	PF	47	47	1,780	489	202	78	83	977	37.9	10.4	4.3	1.7	1.8	20.8
Joe Smith	C	43	42	1,418	354	68	32	66	588	33.0	8.2	1.6	.7	1.5	13.7
Bill Curley	PF	35	7	372	51	14	17	9	78	10.6	1.5	.4	.5	.3	2.2
Andrae Patterson	PF	35	0	284	65	15	19	7	114	8.1	1.9	.4	.5	.2	3.3
Malik Sealy	SF	31	7	731	92	36	30	5	251	23.6	3.0	1.2	1.0	.2	8.1
Anthony Peeler	SG	28	28	810	84	78	35	6	270	28.9	3.0	2.8	1.3	.2	9.6
Reggie Jordan	SG	27	1	296	59	41	12	5	51	11.0	2.2	1.5	.4	.2	1.9
Terrell Brandon†	PG	21	20	712	81	205	39	7	298	33.9	3.9	9.8	1.9	.3	14.2
Dennis Scott†	SF	21	9	532	38	32	12	2	191	25.3	1.8	1.5	.6	.1	9.1
Stephon Marbury†	PG	18	18	661	62	167	29	5	319	36.7	3.4	9.3	1.6	.3	17.7
James Robinson†	PG	17	0	226	35	38	8	5	77	13.3	2.1	2.2	.5	.3	4.5
Chris Carr†	SG	11	2	81	12	7	1	1	23	7.4	1.1	.6	.1	.1	2.1
Brian Evans†	SF	5	0	24	2	1	2	0	4	4.8	.4	.2	.4	.0	.8
Paul Grant†	C	4	0	8	1	0	0	0	2	2.0	.3	.0	.0	.0	.5
Rasho Nesterović	C	2	0	30	8	1	0	0	8	15.0	4.0	.5	.0	.0	4.0
Trevor Winter	C	1	0	5	3	0	0	0	0	5.0	3.0	.0	.0	.0	.0

• ^† Denotes player spent time with another team in the season. Stats reflect time with the Timberwolves only.

Playoffs

Player	POS	GP	GS	MP	REB	AST	STL	BLK	PTS	MPG	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
Kevin Garnett	PF	4	4	170	48	15	7	8	87	42.5	12.0	3.8	1.8	2.0	21.8
Terrell Brandon	PG	4	4	161	30	28	9	2	77	40.3	7.5	7.0	2.3	.5	19.3
Anthony Peeler	SG	4	4	125	16	6	4	0	27	31.3	4.0	1.5	1.0	.0	6.8
Joe Smith	C	4	4	120	26	5	2	8	30	30.0	6.5	1.3	.5	2.0	7.5
Dean Garrett	C	4	3	92	16	5	2	3	22	23.0	4.0	1.3	.5	.8	5.5
Sam Mitchell	SF	4	1	131	14	6	1	2	40	32.8	3.5	1.5	.3	.5	10.0
Malik Sealy	SF	4	0	70	6	3	1	1	20	17.5	1.5	.8	.3	.3	5.0
Bobby Jackson	PG	4	0	27	4	2	0	0	4	6.8	1.0	.5	.0	.0	1.0
Tom Hammonds	PF	4	0	18	2	0	0	0	4	4.5	.5	.0	.0	.0	1.0
James Robinson	PG	4	0	10	1	0	0	0	3	2.5	.3	.0	.0	.0	.8
Rasho Nesterović	C	3	0	29	7	3	0	0	8	9.7	2.3	1.0	.0	.0	2.7
Andrae Patterson	PF	2	0	7	4	2	0	0	0	3.5	2.0	1.0	.0	.0	.0

Awards and records

• Kevin Garnett, All-NBA Third Team

Transactions