PORTLAND, Oregon, April 6 (Ticker) -- Gary Trent may have given the Minnesota Timberwolves the push that they needed.

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Trent scored 18 points off the bench and keyed a fourth-quarter surge to lead the Timberwolves to a pivotal 97-78 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers that may end up determining home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs.

Averaging 5.7 points per game as a reserve power forward, Trent victimized one of his former teams. He was among a handful of Wolves who came up with a big game in perhaps the team's biggest game of the season.

Using his powerful low-post game, Trent made his first seven shots, finishing 8-of-10 from the field and grabbing five rebounds in 20 minutes. He scored eight points in the fourth quarter, including three straight baskets that gave Minnesota an 81-71 lead with 6:04 to go.

Kevin Garnett collected his league-leading sixth triple-double and Wally Szczerbiak scored 25 points for the Wolves (48-30), who moved into a virtual tie with the Trail Blazers (47-29) for fourth place in the Western Conference.

Minnesota owns the tiebreaker, having won three of four meetings this season. It is headed to the playoffs for the seventh straight year but never has won a series, partially because it never has held the home-court edge.