Timberwolves Stun SuperSonics

It took nine seasons, but the Minnesota Timberwolves finally won a playoff game.

Led by Stephon Marbury’s 25 points, the underdog Timberwolves took homecourt advantage away from the second-seeded Seattle SuperSonics with a 98-93 victory Sunday night at Seattle.

It gave the Timberwolves, who had been 0-4 in postseason games, a 1-1 split in the first two games of the best-of-five Western Conference first-round series. Games 3 and 4 set for Tuesday and Thursday in Minneapolis.

The Timberwolves were feeling so good after their first playoff win that they were talking about winning their first playoff series.

“It feels good, but we’ve got two or three more games to go to win the series,” Marbury said. “We’ve still got work to do.

“Yesterday, they were calling us cupcakes, they were calling us soft. It was unbelievable. Our young manhood was being tested. Yesterday was one of the worst days of my life.”

Minnesota got 21 points from Terry Porter, a surprise starter, and a playoff career-high 18 from Sam Mitchell, the last remaining member of the original Timberwolves. Kevin Garnett added 15, and guard Anthony Peeler grabbed 14 rebounds.

Gary Payton scored 32 points for Seattle before fouling out with 13.8 seconds left. But Payton, taking too much upon himself, missed 13 shots and had only four assists.

New York 98, Miami 86--With a burst of emotion that had been missing in Game 1, the Knicks rallied from a 14-point deficit to defeat the Heat at Miami and tie their best-of-five series, 1-1.

The road victory gave New York the home-court advantage going into Game 3 Tuesday. The next two games will be at Madison Square Garden, where Miami’s record is 3-22.

Knick reserve John Starks scored 25 points, while Terry Cummings, who didn’t even play in Game 1, grabbed 14 rebounds in 27 minutes.

Allan Houston contributed 24 points, nine rebounds and six assists, and Larry Johnson added 22 points. Point guards Charlie Ward and Chris Childs combined to contain Tim Hardaway, holding him to 15 points.

Chicago 96, New Jersey 91--Michael Jordan scored 32 points, Toni Kukoc had 19 and Dennis Rodman had 16 rebounds at Chicago as the Bulls defeated the sick and sore Nets to take a 2-0 lead in the best-of-five series.

The Bulls, who squandered a 14-point, fourth-quarter lead in the series opener, nearly blew a 21-point lead this time. Sherman Douglas made a three-pointer to make the score 94-91 late in the fourth, but Scottie Pippen then made two free throws with 14 seconds left as the Bulls hung on.