This is pretty straight forward Wolves faithful.
We don’t remember what it’s like to be a part of the NBA playoffs anymore, so in this continuing series, we’ll live vicariously through the 2003-04 Minnesota Timberwolves, most likely once a week.
We came to you last week with Ronald “Flip” Murray sinking the Wolves at the buzzer, a night Seattle (now Oklahoma City) didn’t have sharpshooter Ray Allen. Call that a wake up call, as Minnesota would go on to win four of their next five.
The third win in that streak was on this day 10 years ago, as Lebron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers (yes, he used to play for them) hosted Minnesota.
MINNESOTA 97, CLEVELAND 83: In the Wolves first ever matchup with No. 1 overall pick of the 2003 NBA Draft Lebron James, Minnesota shut down the high school-to-pros phenom in a 97-83 win.
Lebron had long been talked about as the greatest pro prospect of the last 20 years, and looking at the resume the Akron native has amassed, you could easily say he has lived up to the hype.
But prior to his departure to Miami from his home state’s team, things did not come as easily. The same would hold true on this night, as he went 8-of-19 from the field, scoring 19.
Future Wolf Ricky Davis flanked Lebron in this one, and Minnesota held him to 5-of-15 from the floor, amounting to 13 points. The cast of characters surrounding Lebron was lacking to say the least.
For the Wolves, Kevin Garnett piled up 20 points and 15 rebounds, while Latrell Sprewell led all scorers with 31 in what would be his third-highest scoring output of the regular season.
Names that saw action off the Wolves bench: Former Gopher Quincy Lewis and rookie disasterNdudi Ebi. Classic.
