Timberwolves blast Celtics 110-85; as Marcus Banks scores 20 off bench
Banks 20; KG 15/9, Griffin 12/7, Blount 16/4, Hassell 12, Ricky 5 assists
*Boxscore *Video Highlights *Recap *Timberwolves best Celtics, Szczerbiak, AP
     (Minneapolis 1/30/06 by Poundmaster) The Minnesota Timberwolves flew out to a 10-0 lead over the Boston Celtics, and went on from there to build a 25-point lead behind tremendous bench play. Guard Marcus Banks, newly acquired from the Celtics, led the Wolves with 20 points.
     The scoring was balanced for the T-Wolves, with all four players acquired from the Celtics on Thursday had strong showings. Kevin Garnett scoring 15, Mark Blount 16, Eddie Griffin 12 and an agressive Trenton Hassell with 12. The Wolves outrebounded the Celtics 43-35 and had 8 blocked shots, 4 by Blount and 2 patented Griffin blocks.
     The Timberwolves went up 90-65 on the Celtics at the nine minute mark in the last quarter, continuing to hit at a 57% field goal rate. The Wolves bench had outscored the Celtics bench 36-8 at that point.
      The Timberwolves drubbed the Celtics in the first half 61-42 on 58% field goal shooting. Marcus Banks hit 8 points in the second quarter to help the Timberwolves build a 19-point lead at the half. Garnett, Griffin and Bount each had 10 points in even scoring. Wally Szczerbiak had 13 points in the first half to lead Boston.
     Mark Madsen made three hustle plays in a row at the 6:12 mark, including a steal and a board to help the Wolves get to an 11-point lead 41-30, the largest lead of the game.
     The Timberwolves were up on two over the Celtics at the end of the first quarter, despite building a 10-point lead earlier. Then, in the second quarter, the Wolves built the lead to 8 points again.  The Wolves extended their lead to 20-12 at 5:48 in the first quarter behind Griffin's 5 for 6 shooting for 10 quick points.
      The Timberwolves ended the third quarter on a 9-0 run to eclipse the Celtics 86-63. The Timberwolves continued where they left off 30 seconds into the second half when Trenton Hassell went full court for a reverse layup and a 21-point lead.