Minnesota Timberwolves vs. Boston Celtics

It's rare for sports teams—especially in Minnesota—to have a single player define a period as much as Kevin Garnett did for the Timberwolves in the '90s and early '00s. Even when Kirby Puckett roamed the Metrodome's center field, there were always a couple of other pretty decent players in the lineup. In fact, it was truly a team effort during the Vikings' historic 1998 15-1 season. But Garnett was the only consistently dominant T-Wolf who not only delighted the Target Center crowds, but also tore it up on Sports Center just about every night. And while he was usually surrounded by decent players (remember Tom Gugliotta?), Garnett's teammates moved in and out through a revolving door of trades to save room for salary caps and unload cranky players (remember when Stephon Marbury was known for complaining to team management rather than for eating Vaseline on YouTube?). For this reason, and due to his relatively non-prima-donna persona, Garnett has remained a fan favorite even after he was traded to the Boston Celtics in 2007. Seeing Garnett return to the Target Center may be pretty cathartic for Wolves fans, even if their former star will be running laps around the current team.
Wed., Nov. 4, 7 p.m., 2009