Pippen Turns It Up in Familiar Style

The trade that brought Scottie Pippen and his six NBA championships to the Portland Trail Blazers never looked better than it did Sunday.

Pippen, showing the kind of playoff leadership the Trail Blazers have lacked for years, scored a season-high 28 points and helped hold the Minnesota Timberwolves to 13 points in the fourth quarter. Portland rallied for a 91-88 victory in Game 1 of the best-of-five series.

“I tried to step up my game and put all my energy into coming out and being aggressive, and doing whatever it takes for us to win--by any means necessary,” Pippen said.

The Trail Blazers trailed, 75-69, to start the fourth quarter, but came back when Minnesota began forcing shots.

Pippen, who spent a miserable season in Houston last year after helping the Chicago Bulls win six NBA championships, showed his playoff grit late. He drove to the basket and was hit across the right side of the face by Anthony Peeler with 1:26 left. Pippen grimaced in pain, but still made his foul shots for an 87-82 lead.

“I thought Pippen was unbelievable,” Minnesota Coach Flip Saunders said. “I saw a lot of stuff in the paper about how they got Scottie for this situation, and he got them off to a great start. He was phenomenal.”

Portland Coach Mike Dunleavy agreed.

“Even I was impressed with how strong he took the ball to the basket,” Dunleavy said. “He was the big key for us, getting off to a good start, and late in the game, he kept the attack mode on.”

The Timberwolves got within three twice, on two free throws by Malik Sealy and a drive by Terrell Brandon. But Pippen and Detlef Schrempf combined for four free throws in the final 16 seconds to seal it.

Sealy had 23 points to lead the Timberwolves. Garnett had 12 points, a career high-tying 11 assists, and 10 rebounds, but made only six of 20 shots, including one for five in the fourth quarter. Brandon had 17 points and 12 assists.

The Timberwolves, who never have won a playoff series in their 11-year history, fell to 0-4 in openers.

“We always seem to be in position to win at the end, but for some reason we can’t seem to come through,” Garnett said.