1997–98 Minnesota Timberwolves season

1997–98 Minnesota Timberwolves season
Head coach	Flip Saunders
Owner(s)	Glen Taylor
Arena	Target Center
Results
Record	45–37 (.549)
Place	Division: 3rd (Midwest) Conference: 7th (Western)
Playoff finish	West First Round (eliminated 2-3)
Stats @ Basketball-Reference.com
Local media
Television	KLGT-TV, Midwest Sports Channel

The 1997-98 NBA season was the Timberwolves' 9th season in the NBA. Kevin Garnett and Stephon Marbury continued to establish themselves as two of the brightest stars in the NBA, as Garnett averaged 18.5 points, 9.6 rebounds per game, and was selected for the 1998 NBA All-Star Game. Marbury averaged 17.7 points, and 8.6 assists per game. Despite losing scoring leader Tom Gugliotta for half of the season, the Timberwolves went on to post their first winning record at 45-37. Third in the Midwest Division making their second consecutive playoff appearance. In the first round of the playoffs, the Timberwolves took a 2-1 lead over the #2 seed Seattle SuperSonics, but went on to lose the series in five games.

Draft picks

Main article: 1997 NBA Draft

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	College
1	20	Paul Grant	C	United States	Wisconsin
2	43	Gordon Malone		United States	West Virginia

Roster

Minnesota Timberwolves roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Name Height Weight DOB (YYYY–MM–DD) From SG 43 Carr, Chris  6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 207 lb (94 kg) Southern Illinois PF 17 Curley, Bill 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 220 lb (100 kg) Boston College SF 21 Garnett, Kevin 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 220 lb (100 kg) Farragut Academy (HS) PF 24 Gugliotta, Tom  6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 240 lb (109 kg) North Carolina State PF 20 Hammonds, Tom 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 215 lb (98 kg) Georgia Tech SG 31 Jordan, Reggie 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 195 lb (88 kg) New Mexico State PG 3 Marbury, Stephon 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Georgia Tech SF 42 Mitchell, Sam 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Mercer C 44 Parks, Cherokee 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 235 lb (107 kg) Duke SG 1 Peeler, Anthony 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 208 lb (94 kg) Missouri PG 30 Porter, Terry 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Wisconsin-Stevens Point C 53 Roberts, Stanley 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) 285 lb (129 kg) LSU PG 6 Wheat, DeJuan 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 165 lb (75 kg) Louisville PG 4 Williams, Micheal 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Baylor	Head coach Flip Saunders (Minnesota) Assistant coach(es) Greg Ballard (Oregon) Jerry Sichting (Purdue) Randy Wittman (Indiana) Legend (C) Team captain (DP) Unsigned draft pick (FA) Free agent (S) Suspended Injured Roster • Transactions

Regular season

Season standings

Midwest Division	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Road	Div
z-Utah Jazz	62	20	.756	–	36–5	26–15	22–2
x-San Antonio Spurs	56	26	.683	6	31–10	25–16	18–6
x-Minnesota Timberwolves	45	37	.549	17	26–15	19–22	14–10
x-Houston Rockets	41	41	.500	21	24–17	17–24	14–10
Dallas Mavericks	20	62	.244	42	13–28	7–34	9–15
Vancouver Grizzlies	19	63	.232	43	14–27	5–36	4–20
Denver Nuggets	11	71	.134	51	9–32	2–39	3–21

#	Western Conference
	Team	W	L	PCT	GB
1	z-Utah Jazz	62	20	.756	–
2	y-Seattle SuperSonics	61	21	.744	1
3	x-Los Angeles Lakers	61	21	.744	1
4	x-Phoenix Suns	56	26	.683	6
5	x-San Antonio Spurs	56	26	.683	6
6	x-Portland Trail Blazers	46	36	.561	16
7	x-Minnesota Timberwolves	45	37	.549	17
8	x-Houston Rockets	41	41	.500	21
9	Sacramento Kings	27	55	.329	35
10	Dallas Mavericks	20	62	.244	42
11	Vancouver Grizzlies	19	63	.232	43
11	Golden State Warriors	19	63	.232	43
13	Los Angeles Clippers	17	65	.207	45
14	Denver Nuggets	11	71	.134	51

z - clinched division title

y - clinched division title

x - clinched playoff spot

Playoffs

West First Round

(2) Seattle SuperSonics vs. (7) Minnesota Timberwolves Last Playoff Meeting: This is the first meeting between the SuperSonics and Timberwolves.

Game	Date	Home	Score	Visitor	Score	Record (SEA-MIN)	Venue	Box score	Television
1	April 24	Seattle	108	Minnesota	83	1-0	KeyArena, Seattle, Washington	1	TBS 9:30et
2	April 26	Seattle	93	Minnesota	98	1-1	KeyArena, Seattle, Washington	2	TNT 9:00et
3	April 28	Minnesota	98	Seattle	90	1-2	Target Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota	3	TBS 9:30et
4	April 30	Minnesota	88	Seattle	92	2-2	Target Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota	4	TBS 9:30et
5	May 2	Seattle	97	Minnesota	84	3-2	KeyArena, Seattle, Washington	5	NBC 3:30et
Seattle wins series 3–2

Player statistics

Legend
GP	Games played	GS	Games started	MPG	Minutes per game
FG%	Field-goal percentage	3P%	3-point field-goal percentage	FT%	Free-throw percentage
RPG	Rebounds per game	APG	Assists per game	SPG	Steals per game
BPG	Blocks per game	PPG	Points per game

Season

Player	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3FG%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
Chris Carr	51	40	22.8	.420	.315	.848	3.0	1.7	.3	.2	9.9
Bill Curley	11	1	13.3	.485	.000	.667	2.5	.4	.3	.1	3.1
Kevin Garnett	82	82	39.3	.491	.188	.738	9.6	4.2	1.7	1.8	18.5
Tom Gugliotta	41	41	38.6	.502	.118	.821	8.7	4.1	1.5	.5	20.1
Tom Hammonds	57	2	20.0	.516	.000	.697	4.8	.6	.3	.3	6.1
Reggie Jordan	57	1	8.5	.478	.000	.569	1.7	.9	.6	.2	2.6
Stephon Marbury	82	81	38.0	.415	.313	.731	2.8	8.6	1.3	.1	17.7
Sam Mitchell	81	33	27.6	.464	.349	.832	4.8	1.3	.8	.3	12.3
Cherokee Parks	79	43	21.6	.499	.000	.651	5.5	.7	.5	1.1	7.1
Anthony Peeler	30	24	33.0	.445	.453	.780	3.4	3.8	1.7	.2	13.0
Terry Porter	82	8	21.8	.449	.395	.856	2.0	3.3	.8	.2	9.5
Stanley Roberts	74	44	17.9	.495	.	.481	4.9	.4	.3	1.0	6.2
Clifford Rozier	6	0	5.0	.500	.	.000	1.0	.0	.0	.0	1.0
Doug West	38	10	18.1	.374	.000	.725	2.2	1.2	.3	.1	4.1
DeJuan Wheat	34	0	4.4	.400	.471	.600	.3	.7	.2	.0	1.7
Micheal Williams	25	0	6.4	.333	.000	.970	.6	1.3	.4	.1	2.6

Playoffs

Player	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3FG%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
Bill Curley	2	0	3.5	.	.	.	.0	.0	.0	.0	.0
Kevin Garnett	5	5	38.8	.480	.	.778	9.6	4.0	.8	2.4	15.8
Tom Hammonds	5	1	22.6	.429	.	.750	4.4	.4	.0	.2	7.2
Reggie Jordan	2	0	14.5	.625	1.000	.500	4.5	1.5	.5	.0	6.0
Stephon Marbury	5	5	41.8	.306	.280	.783	3.2	7.6	2.4	.0	13.8
Sam Mitchell	5	5	35.4	.448	.214	.895	5.4	1.6	.2	.2	14.4
Cherokee Parks	1	0	1.0	.	.	.	.0	.0	.0	.0	.0
Anthony Peeler	5	5	42.6	.403	.484	1.000	7.6	3.6	2.0	.6	16.2
Terry Porter	5	4	37.6	.429	.400	.833	5.0	3.2	1.0	.0	15.8
Stanley Roberts	1	0	8.0	.000	.	.500	2.0	.0	.0	.0	1.0
DeJuan Wheat	1	0	3.0	.500	.	.	1.0	.0	1.0	.0	2.0
Micheal Williams	4	0	14.5	.400	.500	.778	2.3	2.8	.8	.3	5.0

See also

• 1997-98 NBA season