1999–2000 Minnesota Timberwolves season

1999–2000 Minnesota Timberwolves season
Head coachFlip Saunders
General managerKevin McHale
OwnerGlen Taylor
ArenaTarget Center
Results
Record50–32 (.610)
PlaceDivision: 3rd (Midwest)
Conference: 6th (Western)
Playoff finishFirst round
(lost to Trail Blazers 1–3)
Stats at Basketball Reference

The 1999–2000 Minnesota Timberwolves season was the 11th season for the Minnesota Timberwolves in the National Basketball Association.[1] The Timberwolves acquired the sixth overall pick in the 1999 NBA draft from the New Jersey Nets via trade, and selected small forward Wally Szczerbiak out of Miami University, and also selected point guard William Avery out of Duke University with the 14th overall pick.[2][3][4]

Early into the regular season, the Timberwolves traveled overseas to Tokyo, Japan to play their first two games against the Sacramento Kings at the Tokyo Dome.[5][6] In the first game on November 5, 1999, the Timberwolves were the road team and lost to the Kings by a score of 100–95, in front of 32,623 fans in attendance. Kevin Garnett and Terrell Brandon both posted double-doubles, as Garnett finished with 34 points and 17 rebounds, while Brandon contributed 18 points and 12 assists, and Anthony Peeler added 17 points.[7][8][9] In the second game on November 6, the Timberwolves were the home team and defeated the Kings by a score of 114–101, in front of 34,013 fans in attendance. Garnett and Brandon both posted double-doubles, as Garnett finished with 31 points and 12 rebounds, while Brandon contributed 15 points and 13 assists; Peeler scored 19 points, and Joe Smith added 17 points and 8 rebounds off the bench.[10][11][12]

With the addition of Szczerbiak, the Timberwolves got off to a 7–5 start to the regular season, but then struggled posting an eight-game losing streak in December afterwards, falling below .500 in winning percentage.[13] However, the team soon recovered and played above .500 for the remainder of the season, winning 20 of their next 25 games, and holding a 27–20 record at the All-Star break.[14] The Timberwolves posted a six-game winning streak in March, and finished in third place in the Midwest Division with a 50–32 record, earning the sixth seed in the Western Conference; it was their first 50-win season in franchise history.[15]

Garnett averaged 22.9 points, 11.8 rebounds, 5.0 assists, 1.5 steals and 1.6 blocks per game, and was named to the All-NBA First Team, and to the NBA All-Defensive First Team. In addition, Brandon averaged 17.1 points, 8.9 assists and 1.9 steals per game, while Szczerbiak provided the team with 11.6 points per game, and was named to the NBA All-Rookie First Team, and Malik Sealy contributed 11.3 points per game. Off the bench, Smith provided with 9.9 points and 6.2 rebounds per game, while Peeler contributed 9.8 points per game, and second-year center Rasho Nesterovic averaged 5.7 points and 4.6 rebounds per game as the team's starting center.[16]

During the NBA All-Star weekend at The Arena in Oakland in Oakland, California, Garnett was selected for the 2000 NBA All-Star Game, as a member of the Western Conference All-Star team. Garnett scored 24 points along with 10 rebounds and 5 assists, as the Western Conference defeated the Eastern Conference, 137–126.[17][18][19] Meanwhile, Szczerbiak was selected for the NBA Rookie Challenge Game, as a member of the Rookies team.[20][21] Garnett finished in second place in Most Valuable Player voting, behind Shaquille O'Neal of the Los Angeles Lakers,[22][23] and also finished in seventh place in Defensive Player of the Year voting.[23]

In the Western Conference First Round of the 2000 NBA playoffs, the Timberwolves faced off against the 3rd–seeded Portland Trail Blazers, who were led by All-Star forward Rasheed Wallace, Scottie Pippen and Steve Smith. The Timberwolves lost the first two games to the Trail Blazers on the road at the Rose Garden Arena, but managed to win Game 3 at home, 94–87 at the Target Center. However, the Timberwolves lost Game 4 to the Trail Blazers at home, 85–77, thus losing the series in four games; this was the fourth consecutive year that the Timberwolves lost in the opening round of the NBA playoffs.[24][25][26] The Timberwolves finished 14th in the NBA in home-game attendance, with an attendance of 690,012 at the Target Center during the regular season.[16][27] Following the season, Bobby Jackson signed as a free agent with the Sacramento Kings.[28][29][30]

Tragedy struck on May 20, 2000, when Sealy died in a car accident, where he was killed by a drunk driver, who was on the wrong side of the road; Sealy, who was 30 years old, was just coming home from a birthday party for his teammate Garnett, who had just turned 24 years old the previous day on May 19.[31][32][33] The driver involved in the crash, Souksangouane Phengsene, was sentenced to four years in prison.[34][35][36] One notable highlight of the regular season included Sealy hitting a game winning three-pointer in a 101–100 home win against his former team, the Indiana Pacers at the Target Center on January 17, 2000.[37][38][39]

Draft picks

Main article: 1999 NBA draft
Round Pick Player Position Nationality College
1 6 Wally Szczerbiak SF  United States Miami (OH)
1 14 William Avery PG  United States Duke
2 42 Louis Bullock SG  United States Michigan

Roster

1999–2000 Minnesota Timberwolves roster
Players Coaches
Pos. No. Player Height Weight DOB From
PG 5 William Avery 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 197 lb (89 kg) 1979–08–08 Duke
PG 7 Terrell Brandon 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 1970–05–20 Oregon
PF 21 Kevin Garnett 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 220 lb (100 kg) 1976–05–19 Farragut Academy (IL)
C 22 Dean Garrett 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 225 lb (102 kg) 1966–11–27 Indiana
PF 20 Tom Hammonds 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 215 lb (98 kg) 1967–03–27 Georgia Tech
PG 24 Bobby Jackson 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1973–03–13 Minnesota
SF 42 Sam Mitchell 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 210 lb (95 kg) 1963–09–02 Mercer
C 8 Rasho Nesterovic 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) 255 lb (116 kg) 1976–05–30 Slovenia
PF 45 Andrae Patterson 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 238 lb (108 kg) 1975–11–12 Indiana
SG 1 Anthony Peeler 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 208 lb (94 kg) 1969–11–25 Missouri
SF 2 Malik Sealy 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 200 lb (91 kg) 1970–02–01 St. John's
C 32 Joe Smith 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 225 lb (102 kg) 1975–07–26 Maryland
SF 10 Wally Szczerbiak 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 244 lb (111 kg) 1977–03–05 Miami (OH)
Head coach
Assistant(s)
Legend
  • (DP) Unsigned draft pick
  • (FA) Free agent
  • (S) Suspended
  • Injured

Roster
Updated: January 3, 2000

Roster notes

  • Shooting guard Malik Sealy died in a car accident on May 20, 2000.

Regular season

Season standings

Midwest Division
 W L PCT GB Home Road Div
y-Utah Jazz 55 27 .671 – 31–10 24–17 14–10
x-San Antonio Spurs 53 29 .646 2 31–10 22–19 16–8
x-Minnesota Timberwolves 50 32 .610 5 26–15 24–17 18–6
Dallas Mavericks 40 42 .488 15 22–19 18–23 12–12
Denver Nuggets 35 47 .427 20 25–16 10–31 10–14
Houston Rockets 34 48 .415 21 22–19 12–29 8–16
Vancouver Grizzlies 22 60 .268 33 12–29 10–31 6–18
#
Western Conference
Team W L PCT GB
1 z-Los Angeles Lakers 67 15 .817 –
2 y-Utah Jazz 55 27 .671 12
3 x-Portland Trail Blazers 59 23 .720 8
4 x-San Antonio Spurs 53 29 .646 14
5 x-Phoenix Suns 53 29 .646 14
6 x-Minnesota Timberwolves 50 32 .610 17
7 x-Seattle SuperSonics 45 37 .549 22
8 x-Sacramento Kings 44 38 .537 23
9 Dallas Mavericks 40 42 .488 27
10 Denver Nuggets 35 47 .427 32
11 Houston Rockets 34 48 .415 33
12 Vancouver Grizzlies 22 60 .268 45
13 Golden State Warriors 19 63 .232 48
14 Los Angeles Clippers 15 67 .183 52
z - clinched division title
y - clinched division title
x - clinched playoff spot

Playoffs

2000 playoff game log
First Round: 1–3 (home: 1–1; road: 0–2)
Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location
Attendance		 Series
1 April 23 @ Portland L 88–91 Malik Sealy (23) Kevin Garnett (10) Terrell Brandon (12) Rose Garden
19,980 		0–1
2 April 26 @ Portland L 82–86 Kevin Garnett (23) Kevin Garnett (10) Terrell Brandon (6) Rose Garden
20,568 		0–2
3 April 30 Portland W 94–87 Terrell Brandon (28) Kevin Garnett (13) Terrell Brandon (12) Target Center
19,006 		1–2
4 May 2 Portland L 77–85 Kevin Garnett (17) Kevin Garnett (10) Kevin Garnett (9) Target Center
19,006 		1–3
2000 schedule

Player statistics

Ragular season

Player POS GP GS MP REB AST STL BLK PTS MPG RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
Malik Sealy SF 82 61 2,392 352 197 76 19 929 29.2 4.3 2.4 .9 .2 11.3
Rasho Nesterović C 82 55 1,723 379 93 21 85 471 21.0 4.6 1.1 .3 1.0 5.7
Anthony Peeler SG 82 22 2,073 232 195 62 10 804 25.3 2.8 2.4 .8 .1 9.8
Kevin Garnett PF 81 81 3,243 956 401 120 126 1,857 40.0 11.8 5.0 1.5 1.6 22.9
Joe Smith C 78 9 1,975 484 88 45 85 774 25.3 6.2 1.1 .6 1.1 9.9
Wally Szczerbiak SF 73 53 2,171 272 201 58 23 845 29.7 3.7 2.8 .8 .3 11.6
Bobby Jackson PG 73 10 1,034 153 172 48 7 369 14.2 2.1 2.4 .7 .1 5.1
Terrell Brandon PG 71 71 2,587 238 629 134 30 1,212 36.4 3.4 8.9 1.9 .4 17.1
Sam Mitchell SF 66 24 1,227 138 111 27 14 427 18.6 2.1 1.7 .4 .2 6.5
William Avery PG 59 1 484 40 88 14 2 154 8.2 .7 1.5 .2 .0 2.6
Dean Garrett C 56 23 604 140 19 8 40 114 10.8 2.5 .3 .1 .7 2.0
Tom Hammonds PF 56 0 372 101 10 8 3 117 6.6 1.8 .2 .1 .1 2.1
Andrae Patterson PF 5 0 20 2 1 1 0 6 4.0 .4 .2 .2 .0 1.2

Playoffs

Player POS GP GS MP REB AST STL BLK PTS MPG RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
Kevin Garnett PF 4 4 171 43 35 5 3 75 42.8 10.8 8.8 1.3 .8 18.8
Terrell Brandon PG 4 4 162 23 34 3 0 78 40.5 5.8 8.5 .8 .0 19.5
Rasho Nesterović C 4 4 126 13 6 3 7 25 31.5 3.3 1.5 .8 1.8 6.3
Malik Sealy SF 4 4 122 18 5 2 0 50 30.5 4.5 1.3 .5 .0 12.5
Wally Szczerbiak SF 4 4 94 8 2 3 1 24 23.5 2.0 .5 .8 .3 6.0
Anthony Peeler SG 4 0 90 9 5 3 1 30 22.5 2.3 1.3 .8 .3 7.5
Joe Smith C 4 0 79 12 1 3 1 18 19.8 3.0 .3 .8 .3 4.5
Sam Mitchell SF 4 0 68 7 2 0 1 23 17.0 1.8 .5 .0 .3 5.8
Bobby Jackson PG 3 0 30 5 4 2 1 15 10.0 1.7 1.3 .7 .3 5.0
Dean Garrett C 3 0 16 2 0 0 1 3 5.3 .7 .0 .0 .3 1.0
Tom Hammonds PF 1 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 2.0 .0 .0 .0 .0 .0

Awards and records

References

  1. ^ 1999-2000 Minnesota Timberwolves
  2. ^ Wise, Mike (July 1, 1999). "PRO BASKETBALL; Safety First: The Bulls Make Brand the Top Pick". The New York Times. Retrieved November 27, 2022.
  3. ^ Heisler, Mark (July 1, 1999). "Dukies Are Way Up". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved June 4, 2023.
  4. ^ "1999 NBA Draft". Basketball-Reference. Retrieved December 1, 2022.
  5. ^ "Kings to Open Season in Tokyo". Sacramento Business Journal. June 29, 1999. Retrieved June 28, 2022.
  6. ^ "PLUS: PRO BASKETBALL -- SAN ANTONIO; Spurs to Skip Japan". The New York Times. Associated Press. June 30, 1999. Retrieved May 25, 2022.
  7. ^ "Season's Longest Road Trip Pays Off for Kings in Japan". The Register-Guard. Associated Press. November 6, 1999. p. 3D. Retrieved March 19, 2026.
  8. ^ "Kings Hold Off T-Wolves; Around the NBA". The Spokesman-Review. Associated Press. November 6, 1999. p. C3. Retrieved March 19, 2026.
  9. ^ "Minnesota Timberwolves at Sacramento Kings Box Score, November 5, 1999". Basketball-Reference. Retrieved March 19, 2026.
  10. ^ Noonan, Tim (November 8, 1999). "66,000 See Timberwolves and Kings Split 2 Games Opening Season: In Tokyo, a Slam Dunk for NBA". The New York Times. Retrieved July 28, 2017.
  11. ^ "Kings Lose First-Half Lead, Game". Lodi News-Sentinel. Associated Press. November 8, 1999. p. 9. Retrieved March 19, 2026.
  12. ^ "Sacramento Kings at Minnesota Timberwolves Box Score, November 6, 1999". Basketball-Reference. Retrieved March 19, 2026.
  13. ^ Kawakami, Tim (December 18, 1999). "So This Is What Triangle Means". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved October 12, 2022.
  14. ^ "NBA Games Played on February 10, 2000". Basketball-Reference. Retrieved July 22, 2022.
  15. ^ "1999–2000 Minnesota Timberwolves Schedule and Results". Basketball-Reference. Retrieved June 23, 2021.
  16. ^ a b "1999–2000 Minnesota Timberwolves Roster and Stats". Basketball-Reference. Retrieved June 23, 2021.
  17. ^ "NBA All-Star 2000". Deseret News. February 13, 2000. Retrieved January 9, 2023.
  18. ^ "2000 NBA All-Star Recap". NBA.com. NBA.com Staff. September 13, 2021. Retrieved May 15, 2023.
  19. ^ "2000 NBA All-Star Game: West 137, East 126". Basketball-Reference. Retrieved November 27, 2021.
  20. ^ "Sports Scoreboard". Times-Union. February 12, 2000. p. 3B. Retrieved September 24, 2025.
  21. ^ "2000 NBA Rising Stars: Rookies 92, Sophomores 83 (OT)". Basketball-Reference. Retrieved September 24, 2025.
  22. ^ "Shaq Receives All But One Vote". ESPN. Associated Press. May 10, 2000. Retrieved March 17, 2024.
  23. ^ a b "1999–2000 NBA Awards Voting". Basketball-Reference. Retrieved January 2, 2022.
  24. ^ "Portland 85, Minnesota 77". United Press International. May 2, 2000. Retrieved July 14, 2021.
  25. ^ "Blazers Knock Out T-Wolves". Deseret News. Associated Press. May 3, 2000. Retrieved June 3, 2022.
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  27. ^ "1999–2000 NBA Season Summary". Basketball-Reference. Retrieved January 23, 2026.
  28. ^ "Pollard Re-Signs with Sacramento". KU Sports. Associated Press. August 2, 2000. Retrieved July 3, 2023.
  29. ^ Wise, Mike (October 30, 2000). "PRO BASKETBALL; West Side Story, the Sequel". The New York Times. Retrieved October 12, 2022.
  30. ^ "Best Free Agent Signings in Sacramento Kings History". A Royal Pain. July 7, 2014. Retrieved January 12, 2022.
  31. ^ Robbins, Liz (May 21, 2000). "PRO BASKETBALL; Wolves' Sealy, Former Star for St. John's, Dies in Car Crash". The New York Times. Retrieved October 15, 2021.
  32. ^ White, Lonnie (May 21, 2000). "Former Clipper Sealy Dies in Minnesota Highway Crash". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved September 13, 2022.
  33. ^ "Sealy Dies in Auto Accident". The Washington Post. May 21, 2000. Retrieved November 26, 2022.
  34. ^ "PLUS: PRO BASKETBALL; A Guilty Plea in Sealy's Death". The New York Times. Associated Press. September 26, 2000. Retrieved January 5, 2022.
  35. ^ "Sealy Crash Driver Sentenced". CBS News. Associated Press. October 18, 2000. Retrieved May 2, 2023.
  36. ^ "Driver in Sealy's Death Gets Four Years in Prison". Los Angeles Times. Associated Press. October 19, 2000. Retrieved September 13, 2022.
  37. ^ "T'Wolves Halt Pacers at Buzzer". CBS News. Associated Press. January 17, 2000. Retrieved July 2, 2023.
  38. ^ "Minnesota 101, Indiana 100". United Press International. January 17, 2000. Retrieved October 12, 2022.
  39. ^ "N.B.A.: YESTERDAY; Sealy's 3-Pointer at the Buzzer Lifts Minnesota Over Indiana". The New York Times. Associated Press. January 18, 2000. Retrieved January 15, 2022.
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