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Garnett's shot at buzzer sinks Sixers

Jan 6, 2007 - 5:48 AM MINNEAPOLIS (Ticker) -- Kevin Garnett was able to come through the second time around.

Garnett drilled a jumper as time expired in overtime to lift the Minnesota Timberwolves to a 104-102 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers.

Garnett had 25 points and 14 rebounds and Trenton Hassell scored a career-high 22 for the Timberwolves (16-15), who have won three straight and six of their last eight games to climb above .500.

"Sure I work on that (rainbow) shot, but I don't expect to shoot it in no game," said Hassell, who went 10-of-13 from the floor. "I just wanted to get it up there and hit the rim. I practice it, but that's just when you're by yourself and you're trying to get somebody a letter (in horse)."

A perennial All-Star, Garnett came through like the superstar he is by swishing a face-up jumper over Samuel Dalembert as the final horn sounded.

At the end of regulation, Garnett missed an 18-foot jumper as time expired.

"When I had the shot (in regulation) I rushed it a little bit, I didn't take my time," Garnett said. "In overtime, I told Trenton to get it to me and I just took my time. I said to myself that if I got the shot, I was going to hit it. I was surprised that they didn't foul."

"I knew that (the final play in overtime) was coming," Dalembert said. "I should have fouled him, but he ended up hitting a tough shot."

Without a clear go-to option after trading four-time scoring champion Allen Iverson last month, the Sixers had a chance to take the lead on their final possession of overtime, but Andre Iguodala misfired on a jumper.

Iguodala, a third-year athletic forward, finished with 23 points on just 8-of-23 shooting.

Kyle Korver scored all 25 of his points in regulation for the Sixers, who completed a 2-5 road trip.

"I don't think that we can go home discouraged," Iguodala said. "It was a loss and you never want to get used to a loss, but we played hard and played well. We will learn a lot from this game."

Garnett split a pair of free throws with 5:05 left in the fourth quarter to give the Timberwolves a 92-83 lead. But the Sixers were able to rally.

Korver scored six points and Iguodala the final four in an 11-2 burst, tying the game at 94-94 with 1:31 to go.

Mark Blount and Ricky Davis added 16 points apiece for the Timberwolves, who shot 47 percent (43-of-92) from the field.

Andre Miller had 18 points and 11 assists for Philadelphia, which is 4-6 since dealing Iverson to Denver.

"It was a heck of a game. I thought our defense was good, our offense was good," Sixers coach Maurice Cheeks said. "We had two chances to win the game. The first one, Kyle (Korver) traveled and the second we got a quality shot from Andre (Iguodala).