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Wolves on verge of playoff series win
April 28, 2004

Trenton Hassell #23 and Ervin Johnson #40 of the Minnesota Timberwolves celebrate as they beat Marcus Camby #23 and the Denver Nuggets 84-82 at the end of Game four of the Western Conference Quarterfinals of the 2004 NBA Playoffs April 27, 2004 at the Pepsi Center in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Brian Bahr/Getty Images )

Denver, Co. — (AP) Trenton Hassell hounded Carmelo Anthony on the perimeter and bumped him around in the lane.

That's nothing new. The Minnesota defensive specialist is known for stopping the opponent's best player. But hitting big baskets? That was a surprise.

	Time for a breather

Hassell scored 14 points and helped hold Anthony to two points in the Timberwolves' 84-82 victory Tuesday night that moved them within a game of reaching the second round for the first time.

"He was aggressive offensively," Minnesota's Latrell Sprewell said. "They're basically saying they're going to let him beat us, so Trenton did an excellent job of attacking the basket and shooting the open shots when he had the chance."

Of course, he was there on defense as well.

After receiving just one vote for the NBA's All-Defensive team, Hassell took it out on Anthony. He had a hand up on just about every one of the star rookie's jumpers and knocked him around when he tried to drive.

Anthony was 1-for-16 from the field and spent the final seven minutes waving a towel from the bench after spraining his knee in the third period.

"I can't say enough about Trent - that's why he should have been on one of the top all-defensive teams," Timberwolves coach Flip Saunders said. "He takes people away from where they want to get, he has the ability with his long arms and quickness to contest a lot of jobs. He did a great job on Carmelo."

In the only other game Tuesday night, New Orleans beat Miami 96-85 to tie the Eastern Conference series 2-2. On Wednesday night, the Lakers will try close out Houston in Game 5 in Los Angeles.

Kevin Garnett had a big game for Minnesota, too.

He stayed quiet as the young Nuggets talked for two days, then took it out on them on the court. Garnett had 27 points, 14 rebounds and five assists to put the Timberwolves in position for their first playoff series victory Friday night in Minneapolis.

"Sometimes you've got to let a sleeping dog sleep and they've been doing a real good job of throwing gasoline on the fire," Garnett said. "We heard the comments, we just sat back, waited for the game and just played. Now we're in position to close this thing out."

It almost didn't happen.

Minnesota led by six late in the fourth quarter, but Voshon Lenard hit consecutive 3-pointers to make it 81-80 with 1:14. Sprewell answered with a 3-pointer, but missed two free throws with 12 seconds left after Nene had a dunk at the other end.

Denver called a timeout and had two chances in the final seconds, but Andre Miller missed in the lane and Lenard missed in a crowd at the buzzer.

"It's been fun. The first two games were kind of boring, then the verbal stuff started in the papers, and it was intense out there," Denver's Jon Barry said. "It's what the players are all about. We played really hard, we just didn't play particularly well."

Lenard had 28 points, and Miller added 13, but Denver shot just 35 percent after winning Game 3 by 19 points. And it doesn't get any easier.

The Nuggets have lost seven straight games in Minnesota, including the first two of the series by 14 points each, and only six teams in NBA history have come back from a 3-1 deficit.

"We'll battle. This team has battled all year. This team has never quit," Nuggets coach Jeff Bzdelik said. Hornets 96, Heat 85

At New Orleans, Baron Davis had 23 points and 10 assists to help the Hornets even the series 2-2.

Stacy Augmon added 17 points, including two shot-clock beaters in the final period. Lamar Odom led Miami with 25 points.

Game 5 is Friday night in Miami.

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