WESTERN CONFERENCE

No. 1 MINNESOTA (58-24, 4-1) vs. No. 4 SACRAMENTO (55-27, 4-1)

Season series: The Timberwolves won 3-1, defeating the Kings twice at Sacramento. The first two games went to overtime, as did the teams' final three meetings last season.

Storyline: With two evenly matched teams with a history of playing close games, there should be a premium on players who can make pressure shots down the stretch.

Whom to watch: Sam Cassell vs. Mike Bibby. This is only the second time in the past seven years that Cassell has made it out of the first round, while Bibby is in a second-round series for the third consecutive season. Both point guards are better scorers than they are passers, and both relish the opportunity to have the ball in their hands on key late possessions.

X-factor: The third scorer. For Minnesota, it will be Latrell Sprewell, who averaged 19.8 points in the first round. For the Kings, it will be one of the league's best sharpshooters, Peja Stojakovic, who averaged 18.2 points but missed 25 of 35 3-pointers vs. the Mavericks. Neither player gets enough credit for his defense.

Little-known fact: Kings guard Anthony Peeler spent the previous 5 1/2 seasons in Minnesota as part of Kevin Garnett's oft-criticized supporting cast.

Prediction: Timberwolves in 7.

Key matchup Kevin Garnett vs. Chris Webber. This will be the first time they've met in the postseason. Both power forwards were critical to their teams' success in the first round - Garnett averaged 25.8 points, 14.8 rebounds and 7.0 assists against Denver; Webber went for 19.4 points, 9.2 rebounds and 4.0 assists vs. Dallas.