The start was furious, often resembling an indoor track meet, and the Hornets and Minnesota Timberwolves made the most of it.

Romping and shooting and scoring almost at will, they repeatedly bounced the lead back and forth, occasionally settling for a tie.

It looked like fun and it probably was, for a while. But only the Wolves were feeling good about it Friday night with their 94-89 victory over the Hornets finally secure.

The explosive beginning produced points in bunches for much of the first quarter, before the wheels momentarily came off Charlotte's offense and Minnesota spurted to a double-figure lead. It turned out to be just enough of an edge to eventually resolve the game, a security blanket for the Wolves as they held off the Hornets' comeback run at the finish.

"We were up and down in the first quarter and it was fun," point guard Baron Davis said. "But we weren't getting any stops, which I didn't like."

Said backcourt teammate David Wesley: "Other than that we battled and stayed in it. But that hurt us."

It was a bittersweet game for the Hornets (12-14). Trying to build on a road rush that had given them eight victories in their previous 11 games out of town, they played well almost all night. But they didn't have quite enough to get out of the Target Center with what would have been an eighth straight victory over the Wolves (17-8).

"I thought we didn't come out with the energy level we should have had," coach Paul Silas said. "We picked it up but the start was sort of our undoing right there.

"We have a very small margin for error while we're short-handed (with two rotation players injured and out). But they're giving me all they've got, and that's all I can ask for."

They almost gave him another win. After allowing the Wolves a 14-2 spurt late in that racehorse first period and falling behind later by 16, they battled back, played hard and, for the most part, played well. It was in many ways typical of their play during the road surge.

The Hornets stayed in it with starting guards Davis (25 points, seven assists) and Wesley (16 and nine) producing strong games. In the fourth quarter they got more offensive help with Lee Nailon hitting each of his six shots in the period and scoring 12 and Elden Campbell contributing five points and two blocks. Their defense limited the Wolves to 23.1 percent shooting in the quarter.

The effort created a 20-6 run and brought them within 86-85 with 3 minutes, 28 seconds to play when Nailon hit the third of his four consecutive baskets. They were down 92-89 when the game turned on them with 14 seconds left.

Coming out of a timeout, the Hornets got the ball to Wesley for a three-point attempt. The potential tying shot appeared to be on line but it dipped into the rim, then popped out and over the backboard.

"It looked good and it felt good," Wesley said. "Everything was good about it but the finish."

Said Silas: "I thought it was in. It was in and out. If it goes in it's a different ball game. But it didn't."

"It was the right call and the right shot."