1997–98 Minnesota Timberwolves season

The 1997–98 NBA season was the Timberwolves' 9th season in the National Basketball Association.[1] During the offseason, the Timberwolves acquired Stanley Roberts from the Los Angeles Clippers, and signed free agent Tom Hammonds. Kevin Garnett and second-year star Stephon Marbury both 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. At midseason, the Timberwolves traded Doug West to the Vancouver Grizzlies for Anthony Peeler.

1997–98 Minnesota Timberwolves season
Head coachFlip Saunders
OwnersGlen Taylor
ArenaTarget Center
Results
Record45–37 (.549)
PlaceDivision: 3rd (Midwest)
Conference: 7th (Western)
Playoff finishFirst Round
(Lost to SuperSonics 2–3)
Stats @ Basketball-Reference.com
Local media
TelevisionKLGT-TV, Midwest Sports Channel

Despite losing Tom Gugliotta for the remainder of the season with an ankle injury after 41 games, the Timberwolves won seven of their final eight games posting 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 series lead over the 2nd-seeded Seattle SuperSonics, but went on to lose the series in five games.[2] Following the season, Terry Porter signed as a free agent with the Miami Heat, Roberts signed with the Houston Rockets, Cherokee Parks signed with the Vancouver Grizzlies, and Michael Williams was released.

Draft picks
Main article: 1997 NBA Draft
Round Pick Player Position Nationality College
120Paul GrantC United StatesWisconsin
243Gordon Malone United StatesWest Virginia

Roster
Roster listing
Minnesota Timberwolves roster
Players Coaches
Pos.No.NameHeightWeightDOB (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)
C 40 Grant, Paul  (IN) 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) 255 lb (116 kg) Wisconsin
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
Assistant coach(es)
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (DP) Unsigned draft pick
  • (FA) Free agent
  • (S) Suspended
  • Injured

Roster

Roster Notes
  • Rookie center Paul Grant missed the entire season due to a foot injury.

Regular season

Season standings
Midwest Division W L PCT GB Home Road Div
z-Utah Jazz 6220.756–36–526–1522–2
x-San Antonio Spurs 5626.683631–1025–1618–6
x-Minnesota Timberwolves 4537.5491726–1519–2214–10
x-Houston Rockets 4141.5002124–1717–2414–10
Dallas Mavericks 2062.2444213–287–349–15
Vancouver Grizzlies 1963.2324314–275–364–20
Denver Nuggets 1171.134519–322–393–21
# Western Conference
Team W L PCT GB
1 z-Utah Jazz6220.756–
2 y-Seattle SuperSonics6121.7441
3 x-Los Angeles Lakers6121.7441
4 x-Phoenix Suns5626.6836
5 x-San Antonio Spurs5626.6836
6 x-Portland Trail Blazers4636.56116
7 x-Minnesota Timberwolves4537.54917
8 x-Houston Rockets4141.50021
9 Sacramento Kings2755.32935
10 Dallas Mavericks2062.24442
11 Vancouver Grizzlies1963.23243
11 Golden State Warriors1963.23243
13 Los Angeles Clippers1765.20745
14 Denver Nuggets1171.13451
z - clinched division title
y - clinched division title
x - clinched playoff spot

Record vs. opponents
1997-98 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 —2–14–01–34–02–02–02–22–01–11–32–00–21–33–10–21–22–22–23–10–21–12–01–11–14–00–22–04–0
Boston 1–2—1–21–31–31–11–12–21–11–10–42–01–10–42–21–12–22–22–23–10–21–11–10–21–13–00–22–03–2
Charlotte 0–42–1—1–32–22–02–03–11–12–03–12–01–13–13–11–12–21–33–12–11–12–01–11–11–14–01–12–02–2
Chicago 3–13–13–1—2–21–12–03–12–02–02–22–01–12–14–01–14–04–03–12–11–11–12–02–01–14–00–22–03–1
Cleveland 0–43–12–22–2—1–12–03–12–01–12–22–01–11–32–22–03–11–22–23–12–01–12–00–20–23–11–12–01–2
Dallas 0–21–10–21–11–1—3–10–21–30–41–11–30–40–20–22–20–21–10–20–20–40–40–40–42–21–10–44–01–1
Denver 0–21–10–20–20–21–3—0–21–30–40–22–20–40–20–21–30–20–20–20–20–42–21–30–40–40–20–41–31–1
Detroit 2–22–21–31–31–32–02–0—2–01–11–32–00–21–22–20–22–22–21–23–11–10–21–11–10–24–00–20–22–2
Golden State 0–21–11–10–20–23–13–10–2—1–30–21–31–30–20–20–40–21–11–10–20–41–32–21–31–30–20–41–30–2
Houston 1–11–10–20–21–14–04–01–13–1—1–14–01–30–21–11–31–11–10–21–11–31–34–02–21–32–00–43–11–1
Indiana 3–14–01–32–22–21–12–03–12–01–1—2–00–23–14–02–02–12–13–14–01–11–12–00–20–24–01–12–04–0
L.A. Clippers 0–20–20–20–20–23–12–20–23–10–40–2—0–40–20–20–41–10–20–21–10–40–43–11–30–41–11–31–30–2
L.A. Lakers 2–01–11–11–11–14–04–02–03–13–12–04–0—1–12–04–01–11–11–10–22–22–24–04–01–32–03–14–01–1
Miami 3–14–01–31–23–12–02–02–12–02–01–32–01–1—3–11–13–12–23–14–00–22–02–00–20–24–01–12–02–2
Milwaukee 1–32–21–30–42–22–02–02–22–01–10–42–00–21–3—1–10–43–12–12–20–22–02–00–21–13–10–21–11–2
Minnesota 2–01–11–11–10–22–23–12–04–03–10–24–00–41–11–1—2–01–10–22–03–11–33–11–31–31–11–34–00–2
New Jersey 2–12–22–20–41–32–02–02–22–01–11–21–11–11–34–00–2—2–23–13–11–11–12–01–10–23–10–22–01–3
New York 2–22–23–10–42–11–12–02–21–11–11–22–01–12–21–31–12–2—4–02–22–01–11–10–21–13–10–22–01–3
Orlando 2–22–21–31–32–22–02–02–11–12–01–32–01–11–31–22–01–30–4—4–00–22–00–20–21–13–10–22–03–1
Philadelphia 1–31–31–21–21–32–02–01–32–01–10–41–12–00–42–20–21–32–20–4—1–11–11–10–20–22–20–22–03–1
Phoenix 2–02–01–11–10–24–04–01–14–03–11–14–02–22–02–01–31–10–22–01–1—2–23–13–12–22–01–34–01–1
Portland 1–11–10–21–11–14–02–22–03–13–11–14–02–20–20–23–11–11–10–21–12–2—3–12–20–42–03–12–21–1
Sacramento 0–21–11–10–20–24–03–11–12–20–40–21–30–40–20–21–30–21–12–01–11–31–3—0–41–31–12–22–21–1
San Antonio 1–12–01–10–22–04–04–01–13–12–22–03–10–42–02–03–11–12–02–02–01–32–24–0—2–22–01–34–01–1
Seattle 1–11–11–11–12–02–24–02–03–13–12–04–03–12–01–13–12–01–11–12–02–24–03–12–2—2–02–24–01–1
Toronto 0–40–30–40–41–31–12–00–42–00–20–41–10–20–41–31–11–31–31–32–20–20–21–10–20–2—0–21–10–3
Utah 2–02–01–12–01–14–04–02–04–04–01–13–11–31–12–03–12–02–02–02–03–11–32–23–12–22–0—4–00–2
Vancouver 0–20–20–20–20–20–43–12–03–11–30–23–10–40–21–10–40–20–20–20–20–42–22–20–40–41–10–4—1–1
Washington 0–42–32–21–32–11–11–12–22–01–10–42–01–12–22–12–03–13–11–31–31–11–11–11–11–13–02–01–1—

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 514022.8.420.315.8483.01.7.3.29.9
Bill Curley11113.3.485.000.6672.5.4.3.13.1
Kevin Garnett 828239.3.491.188.7389.64.21.71.818.5
Tom Gugliotta414138.6.502.118.8218.74.11.5.520.1
Tom Hammonds57220.0.516.000.6974.8.6.3.36.1
Reggie Jordan5718.5.478.000.5691.7.9.6.22.6
Stephon Marbury 828138.0.415.313.7312.88.61.3.117.7
Sam Mitchell 813327.6.464.349.8324.81.3.8.312.3
Cherokee Parks 794321.6.499.000.6515.5.7.51.17.1
Anthony Peeler302433.0.445.453.7803.43.81.7.213.0
Terry Porter82821.8.449.395.8562.03.3.8.29.5
Stanley Roberts744417.9.495..4814.9.4.31.06.2
Clifford Rozier605.0.500..0001.0.0.0.01.0
Doug West381018.1.374.000.7252.21.2.3.14.1
DeJuan Wheat3404.4.400.471.600.3.7.2.01.7
Micheal Williams2506.4.333.000.970.61.3.4.12.6

Playoffs
Player GP GS MPG FG% 3FG% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
Bill Curley203.5....0.0.0.0.0
Kevin Garnett 5538.8.480..7789.64.0.82.415.8
Tom Hammonds5122.6.429..7504.4.4.0.27.2
Reggie Jordan2014.5.6251.000.5004.51.5.5.06.0
Stephon Marbury 5541.8.306.280.7833.27.62.4.013.8
Sam Mitchell 5535.4.448.214.8955.41.6.2.214.4
Cherokee Parks101.0....0.0.0.0.0
Anthony Peeler 5542.6.403.4841.0007.63.62.0.616.2
Terry Porter 5437.6.429.400.8335.03.21.0.015.8
Stanley Roberts108.0.000..5002.0.0.0.01.0
DeJuan Wheat103.0.500..1.0.01.0.02.0
Micheal Williams4014.5.400.500.7782.32.8.8.35.0

References
  1. 1997-98 Minnesota Timberwolves
  2. "THE N.B.A. PLAYOFFS; Sonics Advance After Submerging the Spunky Timberwolves". New York Times. May 3, 1998. Retrieved July 26, 2017.

See also
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