Terrell Brandon says Kevin Garnett called him at 2 a.m. and told him to come over, then greeted him outside in the Minnesota snow while wearing a wife-beater and standing beside Tim Duncan floor mats at the front door. Brandon said Garnett sent him back into the snow for his Timberland boots, then told him to put them on the mats before leading him to another Tim Duncan mat at the back of the house and making him hit that one too.
By 5 in the morning, Brandon said, the two were in Garnett's theater watching film, and they stayed there until 7 a.m., grinding through the pick and roll over and over while Garnett prepared for the San Antonio Spurs in a couple of days. Brandon said Garnett was so locked in on Duncan that he hated him and respected him so much that he hated him.
The recollection came from Brandon in a first-hand account on the Garage with Peace podcast, and it fits the way the Garnett-Duncan rivalry has long been remembered: personal, intense and shaped by constant preparation. Brandon, a two-time All-Star point guard who joined the Minnesota Timberwolves in 1999 and became Garnett's primary playmaker, said he eventually had to cut the night short by telling Garnett to call Flip and cancel practice the next day.
The matchup itself was as close as the emotions around it. Duncan finished with a 33–19 edge over Garnett overall, going 27–17 against him in the regular season and 6–2 in the playoffs. In those games, Duncan averaged 19.3 points, 11.9 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 2.0 blocks, while Garnett averaged 19.8 points, 10.6 rebounds and 4.0 assists.
Brandon said the film session was so focused because Garnett knew exactly what was coming. He remembered Avery Johnson guarding him, with Duncan or David Robinson taking Garnett, and said the entire night was about the same action repeated until sunrise. Brandon's own career ended early in 2002 because of injuries, but the story he told underscored how far Garnett would go to get ready for Tim Duncan, down to the snow outside his own front door.