If you ever find yourself talking to a Minnesota Timberwolves fan, there's only one club that will entice that person to have a discussion about their franchise.
Since becoming an NBA team in 1989, the Timberwolves have a putrid record of 980-1,496. They've only been to the playoffs nine times and have never gone to the NBA Finals.
The team which came closest to getting to the Finals was the 2003-04 Timberwolves group led by Kevin Garnett, Sam Cassell and Latrell Sprewell. That's the best team in Minnesota franchise history, and it's not even close.
Coached by the late great Flip Saunders, the 2003-04 Timberwolves began the season 12-8. The team was 10th in scoring at 94.5 points per game. Their calling card was on defense, as they gave up only 89.1 points — good for ninth in the NBA.
Garnett led the Timberwolves in scoring. He just so happened to win the 2003-04 regular-season MVP award as well.
KG had a monster season, averaging 24.2 points, 13.9 points, 5.0 assists and 2.2 blocks while leading the Timberwolves to 58 wins and the first seed in the rugged Western Conference.
Minnesota finished the season red hot, winning nine straight games before the 2004 playoffs began. The Timberwolves would face off against the Denver Nuggets in the first round of the playoffs.
Garnett and the Wolves easily took care of the Nuggets in five games. “The Big Ticket” put up 25.8 points and 14.8 rebounds in the quick five-game series to send Denver home and lead Minnesota to the second-round.
Next up for the Timberwolves was the Sacramento Kings, and boy was this an epic series. Garnett versus Chris Webber was the headline matchup. The superstars were both at the heights of their careers and fans couldn't wait to see them go head-to-head in a seven-game series.
The Kings took Game 1, stealing homecourt advantage from Minnesota. Cassell had 40 points in Game 1 and still, the Timberwolves lost. Needless to say, Wolves fans were very worried heading into Game 2.
If the Timberwolves lost at home again, the series was pretty much over.
As they did all season, the Timberwolves fought with their backs against the wall, winning Game 2 to tie the series at 1-1. Now came the hard part: Minnesota needed to win at least one game in Sacramento to reclaim homecourt advantage. The problem is that the Kings had the loudest arena in the NBA during that time.
There was a reason Garnett won the MVP award, though. With 10.8 seconds left in overtime of Game 3, KG hit a jump shot from about 12 feet to give the Timberwolves a 114-111 lead. Minnesota wound up winning the game 114-113 to take homecourt advantage back. Garnett posted 30 points and 15 rebounds while Sprewell added another huge 25 points.
Game 4 of the series was really ugly since both teams were playing tense. The Kings won 87-81 to tie the series up. It was now a best of three series to decide who was going to go to the Western Conference Finals.
The two teams split the next two games at home, setting up a Game 7 for the ages at the Target Center. Thanks to excellent free-throw shooting by Minnesota, the Timberwolves won Game 7 to advance to the Western Conference Finals. Garnett had 32 points, 21 rebounds, five blocks — including 14 points in the fourth quarter.
KG's toughest task was now in front of him. He had to go up against Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O'Neal and the Los Angeles Lakers in the Conference Finals. Los Angeles started the series off with a bang by winning Game 1, 97-88. Shaq had an easy 27 points and 18 rebounds.
The Timberwolves, though, bounced back in Game 2 with a convincing 89-71 victory. Garnett had 24 points for Minnesota on 50 percent shooting from the floor. The Timberwolves would now have to grab a win in Los Angeles if they didn't want to come back home for Game 5 down 3-1.
Game 3 was close for the most part, but the Lakers pulled away in the fourth quarter by outscoring the Wolves 30-24. Kobe and Shaq had 22 points apiece. The Lakers won 100-89 to take a 2-1 series lead, but the Timberwolves still had an opportunity to get homecourt back in Game 4.
Despite outscoring the Lakers 25-17 in the fourth quarter of Game 4, Los Angeles won to take a commanding 3-1 series lead. Garnett had 31 points, but no one else on the team even had 20. The Timberwolves were now headed home, facing elimination.
Defense and free-throws once again helped the Timberwolves win Game 5 in Minnesota. Garnett finished with 30 points and 19 rebounds. Sprewell was right behind KG with 28 markers. The series was now headed back to L.A., where the Timberwolves had to win or else their magical season would end.
Unfortunately, Minnesota lost Game 6 by a final count of 96-90.
The 2003-04 Timberwolves have gone the furthest out of any Minnesota team in franchise history. Until a new team passes them, they will remain as the best squad in Wolves franchise history.
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