PORTLAND, Ore. (Ticker) -- Scottie Pippen and the Portland Trail Blazers look to put a stranglehold on their first-round Western Conference playoff series with Kevin Garnett and the Minnesota Timberwolves tonight at the Rose Garden.

Pippen delivered what the Trail Blazers acquired him for on Sunday, scoring a season-high 28 points as Portland rallied to overtake Minnesota 91-88 in the series opener.

Portland erased a 77-71 fourth-quarter deficit with a 12-3 run that Pippen capped with a hook shot with 3:08 left. He added four free throws in the final 86 seconds to seal the win.

	SEASON SERIES
	Jan. 6 Mar. 16	at Minnesota 98, Portland 96 Minnesota 96, at Portland 92

After winning six NBA titles with Michael Jordan in Chicago, Pippen was unable to help the Houston Rockets make it past the first round of the playoffs last season. After getting swept in last year's Western Conference finals by San Antonio, the Blazers acquired Pippen with the hope he would lead them to a championship.

"I try to lead by example," Pippen said. "I say my few words before, but I have to go out and do it for my teammates to listen to me. I told the guys whatever we do we have to lay it on the line."

"Pippen was unbelievable," Timberwolves coach Flip Saunders said. "They got him for just this situation, for his playoff experience. He was terrific. He was able to lead the team, and he got them off offensively."

Garnett, who is hoping to guide Minnesota past the first round for the first time in four postseason appearances, recorded a triple-double but scored only 12 points, 11 below his season average, on 6-of-20 shooting. He had 11 assists and 10 rebounds.

"I was pleased with the job we did on Kevin Garnett," Trail Blazers coach Mike Dunleavy said. "He is a tough guy but he had an off day."

Malik Sealy scored 23 points for Minnesota, which made only four of its last 17 shots.

The Blazers snapped a streak of six straight first-round eliminations by ousting Phoenix last season and are meeting the Timberwolves in the playoffs for the first time.

Game 3 is in Minnesota on Sunday.

MINNESOTA 10-game log	PORTLAND 10-game log
Apr. 2 Apr. 4 Apr. 6 Apr. 7 Apr. 10 Apr. 12 Apr. 14 Apr. 16 Apr. 17 Apr. 19 Phoenix Atlanta @ LA Clippers @ Sacramento Detroit @ Seattle @ Vancouver @ LA Lakers @ Golden State Dallas L 86-87 W 86-76 W 112-90 W 95-92 W 102-100 L 83-110 W 104-94 L 95-101 W 101-96 L 107-113	Apr. 2 Apr. 5 Apr. 6 Apr. 8 Apr. 10 Apr. 11 Apr. 13 Apr. 16 Apr. 18 Apr. 19 Seattle Houston @ Vancouver Vancouver @ Utah @ Dallas @ San Antonio Sacramento @ LA Clippers Denver W 95-82 L 105-118 L 87-89 W 98-85 W 90-86 L 81-92 W 93-77 W 102-95 W 116-100 L 95-96