JERSEY CITY, New Jersey - Kevin Garnett and the
Minnesota Timberwolves have never won a playoff series, but this
is the first time they enter the postseason as the top seed.
On Sunday, the Timberwolves will host the upstart Denver
Nuggets, which is making its first postseason appearance since
1995, in the opener of their Western Conference series.
The fourth-seeded Sacramento Kings host the fifth-seeded Dallas
Mavericks in the other Western Conference series opener on
Sunday. It is a rematch of last year's conference semifinal
series which the Mavericks won in five games.
In Eastern Conference series openers, the third-seeded Detroit
Pistons entertain the sixth-seeded Milwaukee Bucks and the
fifth-seeded New Orleans Hornets visit the fourth-seeded Miami
Heat.
The Timberwolves have been eliminated in the first round in each
of their previous seven postseason appearances.
Minnesota ended the regular season with a nine-game winning
streak and clinched the Midwest Division title with a 107-90
victory over Memphis in its final game on Wednesday.
Garnett is a favorite to win the NBA's Most Valuable Player
Award with 24.2 points, 13.9 rebounds and 5.0 assists per game.
Denver, which had the worst record in the NBA last season,
barely edged Portland and Utah for the final playoff spot in the
West by winning five of its last seven games.
The turnaround of the Nuggets has been sparked by the arrival of
rookie Carmelo Anthony, who averaged 21.0 points and 6.1
rebounds.
The Kings lost 11 of their final 18 regular-season contests and
lost the Pacific Division title to the Los Angeles Lakers after
dropping their final two games and watching the Lakers win their
last two.
Sacramento's struggles have coincided with the return to the
lineup of forward Chris Webber, who suffered a severe knee
injury in Game Two of the Western Conference semifinals against
the Mavericks last season. Webber underwent knee surgery and
sat out as the Kings started the season with a league-best 43-15
record.
The Pistons won 20 of their last 24 games, including 11 straight
at home. Milwaukee closed the season on a three-game skid,
costing it home-court advantage in the first round and a more
favorable matchup with Miami or New Orleans.
The Heat seek to ride their momentum into the postseason after
winning 17 of their last 21 games, including 12 straight at
home.
New Orleans will be without former Heat forward Jamal Mashburn,
who is not on the playoff roster due to right knee problems.
Mashburn averaged 24.8 points in last year's playoffs.
The NBA playoffs got under way with three blowouts on Saturday,
but ended with the Los Angeles Lakers beating the Houston
Rockets by the narrowest of margins.
On the verge of giving away home-court advantage, the
second-seeded Lakers got a thunderous follow dunk by Shaquille
O'Neal with 17 seconds left and hung on for a 72-71 victory over
the seventh-seeded Rockets in the opener of their Western
Conference series.
In another West opener, the third-seeded defending NBA champion
San Antonio Spurs relied on their huge edge in experience for a
98-74 beating of the sixth-seeded Memphis Grizzlies, who were
playing the first playoff game in franchise history.
The East began with a pair of blowouts as the top-seeded Indiana
Pacers routed the Boston Celtics, 104-88, and the second-seeded
New Jersey Nets trounced the New York Knicks, 107-83.