2003–04 Minnesota Timberwolves season | |
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Division Champions
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|
Head coach | Flip Saunders |
General manager | Kevin McHale |
Owner(s) | Glen Taylor |
Arena | Target Center |
Results | |
Record | 58–24 (.707) |
Place |
Division: 1st (Midwest) Conference: 1st (Western) |
Playoff finish |
Western Conference Finals (Lost to Lakers 2–4) |
Stats @ Basketball-Reference.com |
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Local media | |
Television | Fox Sports North |
Radio | KFAN |
The 2003–04 NBA season was the 15th season for the Minnesota Timberwolves in the National Basketball Association. During the offseason, the Timberwolves signed free agents Michael Olowakandi and Trenton Hassell. With a Western Conference-best 58–24 finish, the Wolves set the franchise record for wins, and won its first and only division championship. Power forward Kevin Garnett averaged 24.2 points, a league-high 13.9 rebounds, 5.0 assists, 1.5 steals and 2.2 blocks per game, winning the regular season Most Valuable Player Award.
In the first round of the playoffs, the Timberwolves defeated the Denver Nuggets in five games, winning their first ever playoff series. The Wolves were then pushed to the limit in the semifinals by the Sacramento Kings, who they narrowly defeated in a deciding seventh game. In the Western Conference Finals, they faced a Los Angeles Lakers team featuring Shaquille O'Neal, Kobe Bryant, Gary Payton and Karl Malone, who defeated them in six games. As of 2017, the Timberwolves have not made it back to the playoffs.
The season is memorable, acquiring 4-time All-Star but controversial guard Latrell Sprewell, who was known his choking incident with then-Warriors head coach P.J. Carlesimo, and helping the 8th-seeded New York Knicks to the NBA Finals in 1999, and Sam Cassell, who was known for winning two championships with the Houston Rockets, and his tenure with the Milwaukee Bucks, where he helped guide the Bucks to the Eastern Conference Finals in 2001, to join Garnett, forming a "Big 3". Garnett, Cassell, and coach Flip Saunders represented the Western Conference in the 2004 NBA All-Star Game. The 2004 All-Star game was Cassell's only All-Star appearance in his career.