Despite being dominated all day, underdog Minnesota came away with the 98-96 upset of Detroit. "What a strange game," remarked Minnesota coach Bob afterwards. "Detroit were by far the better team today, but couldn't get the win. If I hadn't been keeping track of the score, I'd have thought we lost badly. But somehow we came out on top."

The sense of disbelief was apparent in the Detroit locker room afterwards. "We thought we did everything right," said star Gilliam. "We executed our game plan, both on offense and defense, and did what we needed to do. But a few plays make or break the game, and those all went the wrong way. Just a demoralizing way to lose."

Minnesota was led by Dirks (15 points, 18 boards, 2 assists, 2 steals), Mark (19 points, 12 boards, 0 assists), Patterson (11 points, 10 boards, 1 assists, 3 blocks). Detroit was led by Gilliam (31 points, 5 boards, 3 assists), Kay (20 points, 7 boards, 4 assists, 2 steals), Graham (16 points, a steal, 4 blocks).

After the victory, Minnesota stand at 26-32 and 14-13 at home. They hold at #5 in the Northwest and remain at #10 overall in the Western Conference. Detroit ended their winning streak at 16 games, and drop to 49-6. They hold at #1 in the Central and stay at #1 overall in the Eastern Conference.

box score Minnesota roster Detroit* roster