INDIANAPOLIS (Ticker) -- Ron Artest and the red-hot Indiana Pacers showed that a solid team effort can beat a pair of stars.
Artest led six players in double figures with 20 points and the Pacers extended their winning streak to six games with a 98-75 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Ten of Artest's points came in the third quarter, the only time the Timberwolves seriously threatened. Minnesota cut a 23-point deficit to 69-61 on a jumper by Sam Cassell with 1:42 left, but Al Harrington followed with a layup and Artest closed the period with a tip-in before the Pacers pulled away in the fourth quarter.
"Everybody played team ball tonight," Artest said. "I played a little better in the second half than I did in the first. ... We knew they would make a run and cut the lead down, but we were able to accept the challenge."
The Timberwolves had a three-game winning streak snapped, despite getting 25 points apiece from Cassell and Kevin Garnett. Latrell Sprewell missed all eight of his shots and did not score.
"Sprewell was a little off tonight," Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said. "We were fortunate he missed some he normally makes."
It was the third time in Sprewell's career that he was held scoreless - the last was January 21, 2002, when he failed to tally against the Charlotte Hornets.
"We got our butts whipped, what can I say?" Timberwolves coach Flip Saunders said. "Artest played great defense. He took away Sprewell and didn't give him many good looks."
Jermaine O'Neal added 17 points for Indiana, which also got 13 from Reggie Miller and 11 from Kenny Anderson.
"We're picking our spots to be aggressive," Miller said. "When teams are making runs, we know how to slow it down."
Harrington just missed joining the parade of double-figure scorers with nine points, but he led the Pacers with 10 rebounds.
"We've got guys who make contributions when needed," Carlisle said.
Indiana shot 49 percent (42-of-86) from the field, including a 50 percent (21-of-42) effort in the first half as the Pacers took a 50-32 lead at the break.
"We came out kind of flat," Garnett said. "They got out to a quick lead and we could not sustain any comeback effort in the second half."
The Pacers had a 29-13 lead after the first quarter, then broke things open with a 7-0 run to start the second.
