Spurs Handily Pass Their First Test

The San Antonio Spurs needed more than their Twin Towers to eliminate the Minnesota Timberwolves from their first-round Western Conference series Monday night.

Tim Duncan scored 24 and David Robinson added 21 in the 97-84 victory, but timely three-point baskets by Danny Ferry and Antonio Daniels put the Spurs over the top at the end of the third quarter.

Duncan was only eight for 23 from the field, and Robinson went to the bench with his fourth foul in the third period. Ferry and Daniels made four three-pointers apiece to prove that these Spurs are more than a two-man show.

“We’ve ridden on Timmy’s back all season,” Ferry said. “When teams double-team him, we have other guys who can shoot the ball.”

The Spurs, 3-1 winners of the series, also knocked the Timberwolves out of the first round in 1999, before going on to win the NBA title. They will play the winner of the Dallas-Utah series.

Wally Szczerbiak had 20 points for the Timberwolves, who lost in the first round for the fifth time in as many seasons. Their 0-5 series record in the playoffs is the worst among all NBA franchises.

“It’s getting pretty old,” Minnesota guard Terrell Brandon said. “The fans want something else to happen, and they deserve it.”

Around the league

Center Marcus Camby returned to practice with the New York Knicks and intends to play in Wednesday’s Game 4 of their first-round playoff series against the Toronto Raptors. Camby played poorly in a Game 2 loss and sat out Game 3 while coping with the trauma of having his mother and two sisters held hostage last week. . . . Orlando Magic backup guard Dee Brown was suspended for one game without pay and fined $5,000 by the NBA for leaving the bench Saturday during a scuffle in Game 3 against the Milwaukee Bucks. . . . Denny McGowan, the Denver Nuggets’ vice president of basketball operations for two years, resigned in what could be a week of change for a team that finished next to last in its division. His resignation comes as Coach Dan Issel, also the team’s president, and his assistants are to meet with owner Stan Kroenke this week. . . . The Charlotte Hornets signed a lease agreement with city leaders that would make the team the major tenants of a new uptown arena for the next 25 years. A vote is scheduled on the new arena on June 5. . . . Miami Heat center Alonzo Mourning, who sat out the first 69 games of the season because of a kidney disease that is now in remission, said doctors will decide late this summer whether he’s healthy enough to return next season. Mourning could eventually need a kidney transplant. Meanwhile, Coach Pat Riley acknowledged he deserves more blame than he has gotten for the Heat’s postseason failures, telling reporters, “You’ve given me a free pass. Why, I don’t know.” Riley has an 18-25 playoff record in Miami.