The Timberwolves have a history and something of a big brother-little brother complex with the San Antonio Spurs. They share a border and more than a few similarities with the Milwaukee Bucks. The Wolves entered the league the same year as the Orlando Magic and, like everyone else in the NBA, ultimately have to scale the Los Angeles Lakers for true postseason satisfaction.

But in terms of sheer rivalry, the Dallas Mavericks might be the best match out there for the Wolves.


Both teams are making noise in the Midwest Division, eager to topple the Spurs and the Utah Jazz and young enough to vie for the top spot for years. The two franchises are relative squirts in the 54-year-old NBA, with Dallas entering in 1980 and the Wolves in 1989. Each dredged the league's bottom for several years in the 1990s.

Neither team ever has reached the finals or done much in the postseason, making fans in both cities a little cranky.

Both are stocked with stars at essentially the same positions, with parallels deeper into their rosters, too. The Mavericks (15-6) have Steve Nash at point guard, Michael Finley at shooting guard and Dirk Nowitzki, a multi-dimensional 7-footer. The Wolves (16-6) match that with Terrell Brandon at point, Wally Szczerbiak next to him and Kevin Garnett as the answer to Dallas' German army knife.

Both teams get energy boosts off the bench from power forwards -- Gary Trent for the Wolves, an improving Eduardo Najera for Dallas -- and employ reserves who have started elsewhere.

"Any time you have your best players playing the same position ... I don't think there's any question there's a natural type of rivalry," Wolves coach Flip Saunders said after practice Monday. "[The Wolves' inaugural team] patterned themselves off Dallas and how they handled expansion. Even to the point that we had the same colors."