Remarkable Brandon Erases Sweep Dreams

The only smudge on Terrell Brandon’s career day was that it came at the expense of his hometown pal from Portland.

Brandon scored 28 points in his best playoff performance and shut down Damon Stoudamire as the Minnesota Timberwolves staved off elimination with a 94-87 victory over the Trail Blazers on Sunday.

Brandon, who added 12 assists and seven rebounds, helped hold Stoudamire to two points, 14 below his playoff average.

“No matter who wins, our neighborhood wins,” Brandon said after the Timberwolves pulled within 2-1 in the best-of-five series. “This is something we’ll talk about for years after the season is done.”

Stoudamire would just as soon forget about his dismal day. He was 0 for 8 from the field with one rebound and had as many fouls (six) as assists.

“To sum it all up, I stunk up the place,” Stoudamire said. “By all rights, they should have thrown me out of here. But I’ll tell you what, I won’t stink it up again.”

Brandon was 10 for 16 from the field, six for six from the line and had only one turnover while not getting so much as a single breather from Coach Flip Saunders.

“I didn’t play tough because this was Portland,” Brandon said. “This was do or die. I’ll take another 48 if that’s what Flip and the team needs me to do.”

Brandon not only handled Stoudamire, who is three years younger, but also his feisty backup, Greg Anthony, who logged 20 minutes.

“It takes a lot of energy to have to guard Damon because he’s faster than me,” Brandon said. “Then, Greg comes in and guards me fullcourt and that takes more energy.”

Brandon was up to the task.

“He played an excellent game,” Stoudamire said. “I said at the beginning of the series, if he played good for them, they’d win this series.”

That’s still a long shot, even if Brandon can reproduce one of the finest all-round playoff performances recorded by a point guard.

Only four teams have overcome a 2-0 deficit since 1984, when the league adopted the best-of-five format for the first round of the playoffs.

Game 4 is Tuesday night at Target Center, and Trail Blazer Coach Mike Dunleavy said he isn’t about to juggle his lineup.

Trail Blazer forward Scottie Pippen said nothing went wrong for Brandon.

“He’s one of the top point guards. They’re very patient offensively and he’s a great leader,” Pippen said.

“It doesn’t hurt to have K.G. on your team, either.”

Kevin Garnett, who has only two triple-doubles in five NBA seasons, had his second triple-double in a week with 23 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists for Minnesota.

Playing just their second home game in three weeks, the Timberwolves did what they couldn’t do in Portland: stifle Pippen (16 points), execute down the stretch and curb their mistakes.

Steve Smith scored 22 points for the Trail Blazers, who made their first 17 free throws.

When they finally missed, Brian Grant got his own rebound with a chance for Portland to cut its 80-77 deficit.

But Grant committed an offensive foul with just under five minutes left and the Timberwolves would never relinquish their lead.