2001–02 Minnesota Timberwolves season

2001–02 Minnesota Timberwolves season
Head coach	Flip Saunders
Owner(s)	Glen Taylor
Arena	Target Center
Results
Record	50–32 (.610)
Place	Division: 3rd (Midwest) Conference: 5th (Western)
Playoff finish	West First Round (eliminated 0-3)
Stats @ Basketball-Reference.com

The 2001-02 NBA season was the Timberwolves' 13th season in the NBA.^[1] A year after they were slapped by the NBA, the Timberwolves were able to sign Joe Smith, who played with the Detroit Pistons last season. Meanwhile, Kevin Garnett continued to establish himself as one of the top players in the NBA averaging 21.2 points and 12.1 rebounds per game, as the Timberwolves finished third in the Midwest Division with a 50-32 record. Garnett and Wally Szczerbiak were selected to play in the 2002 NBA All-Star Game. In the first round of the playoffs, the Timberwolves were swept by the Dallas Mavericks in three straight games.

Draft picks

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	College
2	45	Loren Woods	C	United States	Arizona

Roster

Minnesota Timberwolves roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Nat. Name Height Weight DOB (Y-M-D) From G 5 Avery, William 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 197 lb (89 kg) Duke G 4 Billups, Chauncey 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 202 lb (92 kg) Colorado G 7 Brandon, Terrell  5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Oregon G 1 Evans, Maurice 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 220 lb (100 kg) Texas F/C 21 Garnett, Kevin 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 220 lb (100 kg) Farragut Academy (HS) C 25 Jackson, Marc 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 270 lb (122 kg) Temple G 13 López, Felipe 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 180 lb (82 kg) St. John's F 42 Mitchell, Sam 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Mercer C 8 Nesterović, Rasho 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) 255 lb (116 kg) Slovenia G 14 Pack, Robert 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Southern California G 44 Peeler, Anthony 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 208 lb (94 kg) Missouri F 32 Smith, Joe 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 225 lb (102 kg) Maryland F 10 Szczerbiak, Wally 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 244 lb (111 kg) Miami (OH) F 20 Trent, Gary 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 250 lb (113 kg) Ohio C 3 Woods, Loren 7 ft 2 in (2.18 m) 260 lb (118 kg) Arizona	Head coach Flip Saunders (Minnesota) Legend (C) Team captain (DP) Unsigned draft pick (FA) Free agent (S) Suspended Injured Roster • Transactions

Regular season

Season standings

#	Western Conference
	Team	W	L	PCT	GB
1	z-Sacramento Kings	61	21	.744	–
2	y-San Antonio Spurs	58	24	.707	3
3	x-Los Angeles Lakers	58	24	.707	3
4	x-Dallas Mavericks	57	25	.695	4
5	x-Minnesota Timberwolves	50	32	.610	11
6	x-Portland Trail Blazers	49	33	.598	12
7	x-Seattle SuperSonics	45	37	.549	16
8	x-Utah Jazz	44	38	.537	17
9	Los Angeles Clippers	39	43	.476	22
10	Phoenix Suns	36	46	.439	25
11	Houston Rockets	28	54	.341	33
12	Denver Nuggets	27	55	.329	34
13	Memphis Grizzlies	23	59	.280	38
14	Golden State Warriors	21	61	.256	40

z - clinched division title

y - clinched division title

x - clinched playoff spot

Playoffs

West First Round

(4) Dallas Mavericks vs. (5) Minnesota Timberwolves Last Playoff Meeting: This is the first meeting between the Mavericks and Timberwolves.

Dirk Nowitzki was virtually unstoppable in this series, averaging around 33 points and 16 rebounds per game.^[2]

Game	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	Score	Record (DAL-MIN)	Venue	TV Time	TV Commentators
1	April 21	Minnesota	94	Dallas	101	1-0	American Airlines Center	NBC 3:00et/2:00ct	Mike Breen & P.J. Carlesimo
2	April 24	Minnesota	110	Dallas	122	2-0	American Airlines Center	TNT 9:30et/8:30ct	Kevin Harlan, Danny Ainge & John Thompson
3	April 28	Dallas	115	Minnesota	102	3-0	Target Center	NBC 3:00et/2:00ct	Bob Costas & Mike Dunleavy, Sr.
Dallas wins series 3–0

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
William Avery	28	0	9.2	.289	.171	.684	0.9	1.3	0.3	0.0	2.5
Chauncey Billups	82	54	28.7	.423	.394	.885	2.8	5.5	0.8	0.2	12.5
Terrell Brandon	32	28	30.1	.425	.174	.988	2.9	8.3	1.6	0.2	12.4
Maurice Evans	10	0	4.5	.474	.000	.750	0.4	0.4	0.0	0.0	2.1
Kevin Garnett	81	81	39.2	.499	.319	.801	12.1	5.2	1.2	1.6	21.2
Marc Jackson	22	0	14.8	.384	.000	.813	3.9	0.5	0.3	0.4	4.6
Felipe Lopez	67	0	8.7	.378	.424	.673	1.2	0.6	0.3	0.0	2.5
Sam Mitchell	74	10	9.8	.432	.286	.776	1.1	0.6	0.2	0.1	3.3
Rasho Nesterovic	82	82	27.0	.493	.000	.549	6.5	0.9	0.5	1.3	8.4
Robert Pack	16	0	15.8	.368	.250	.733	1.4	3.1	0.8	0.0	3.9
Anthony Peeler	82	0	25.1	.421	.392	.862	2.5	2.2	0.7	0.1	9.0
Joe Smith	72	63	26.7	.511	.667	.830	6.3	1.1	0.5	0.8	10.7
Wally Szczerbiak	82	82	38.0	.508	.455	.831	3.1	1.2	0.8	0.3	18.7
Gary Trent	64	10	17.8	.507	.000	.639	4.2	0.9	0.3	0.4	7.5
Loren Woods	60	0	8.6	.344	.000	.733	2.0	0.4	0.3	0.6	1.8

Playoffs

Player	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3FG%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
Chauncey Billups	3	3	44.7	.385	.400	.700	5.0	5.7	1.0	0.3	22.0
Kevin Garnett	3	3	43.3	.429	.500	.719	18.7	5.0	1.7	1.7	24.0
Marc Jackson	1	0	1.0	.000	.000	.000	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Felipe Lopez	3	0	10.0	.250	.500	.500	0.3	0.3	0.3	0.0	1.3
Sam Mitchell	3	2	11.3	.333	.000	.100	0.7	1.0	0.3	0.3	2.7
Rasho Nesterovic	3	3	30.7	.484	.000	.444	6.7	1.0	0.3	0.0	11.3
Robert Pack	3	0	3.3	.200	.000	.100	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	1.0
Anthony Peeler	3	0	22.3	.450	.556	.667	4.3	0.7	1.3	0.0	9.0
Joe Smith	3	1	14.3	.000	.000	.875	3.7	0.0	0.0	0.3	4.3
Wally Szczerbiak	3	3	43.7	.477	.222	.889	7.0	2.0	.07	0.0	20.0
Gary Trent	3	0	5.5	.500	.000	.500	3.0	0.3	0.0	0.0	6.3

Awards and records

• Kevin Garnett, All-NBA Second Team
• Kevin Garnett, NBA All-Defensive First Team

References

1. 2001-02 Minnesota Timberwolves
2. Sacramento 125, Dallas 119

See also

• 2001-02 NBA season