Maybe Timberwolves guard Wally Szczerbiak thought the crowd at Rose Garden needed one more treat. Maybe the tight-as-Spandex game that included 17 lead changes, 12 ties and four double-doubles wasn't enough.
So after Trail Blazers forward Rasheed Wallace missed the final shot of the game, giving Minnesota a 95-93 victory and extending Portland's losing streak to four games, Szczerbiak grabbed the ball from teammate Kevin Garnett, roared and threw the ball toward the top of the lower deck.

It was that type of game: energetic, fun, loud, bruising and full of excitement. And it put an exclamation point on the Wolves' best December in franchise history, 10-5 for the month and an overall mark of 20-9.

Many Timberwolves fans have noticed center Rasho Nesterovic's improvement on offense. His numbers are up across the board -- he averaged 9.7 points and 6.3 rebounds while shooting 51.8 percent before Sunday's game at Portland, compared with 4.5 points, 3.9 rebounds and 46.1 percent shooting last season. He is visibly more aggressive, and his teammates are far quicker to get him the ball.

Nesterovic made equally impressive strides on defense, though, in ways not readily apparent. He already has blocked 43 shots, compared with 63 last season, and the coaches have praised him for his enhanced grasp of both man-to-man and zone schemes.

"The rule changes helped him, and he's helped us," coach Flip Saunders said. "Right now, he is one of our best team, off-the-ball defenders at helping out, recovering, doing things like that."

The once-proud fans of the Portland Trail Blazers are on the verge of abandoning the team they formerly supported with glee.

For the first time since the Rose Garden opened in 1995, non-sellouts are the norm, and often several thousand seats are unoccupied. If the playoffs were now, the Blazers wouldn't qualify for the first time since 1982.

Recently, Sports Illustrated wrote a scathing piece on how far the team had fallen in terms of interest, standing in the community, quality of personnel in its management and players. The lightning rod was Bonzi Wells' quote about fans' waning interest.

"We're not really going to worry about what the hell they think about us," Wells told reporters. "They really don't matter to us. They can boo us every day, but they're still going to ask for our autographs if they see us on the street. That's why they're fans and we're NBA players."

Now check this out.

In the team's next home game, against Detroit last Friday, Wells was in uniform but did not play because of a knee injury. During the game, a feature on the replay screen asked players what their favorite Christmas gift was as a kid. When it came time to show Bonzi's taped response, the fans booed so loudly it could not be heard.

Look mom, I'm on TV:

When Maurice Evans, a 6-5 guard who went undrafted last summer, signed with Minnesota, his family invested in NBA LeaguePass so they could watch every Minnesota game on television.

After Evans played his first NBA game at New Jersey, a scoreless minute at the end of the first half, he called home to see what his family thought. They didn't know what to think, because they hadn't seen a thing. "I couldn't believe it," Evans told the media. "I called home and I said, You see me? You see me?' And they were like, When did you get in? We watched intently the whole game and didn't see you.' My agent missed me, my mom and dad, my sister - everybody missed me. I was like, Man!' "

Bomb threat:

A bomb threat was called in to Philips Arena in Atlanta near the end of the game last Saturday. Shortly after the Hawks' 101-88 victory, coaches were informed of the situation. "I was made aware right after the game was over," Hornets coach Paul Silas told reporters. "The guys were in the shower and I told Big Shot [equipment manager Dave Jovanovic] to tell them what was going on. They didn't believe him at first. They thought it was some sort of a joke. So, I came in there and told them it was real. They moved pretty fast after that and we got on the buses and got out of there."

Goldie locks:

The Heat is a miserable 5-21 following last Friday's loss and Brian Grant is willing to try anything to help his team snap out of its funk.

Grant cut his dreadlocks. He hopes it will snap him out of his seasonlong malaise.

"Each and every player on the team has to look at his performance and decide if they're giving the team everything that they can give," said Grant to the media, who's averaging under 10 points and about seven rebounds. "I'm admitting it, putting it out there. I'm telling you right now, you're not getting Brian Grant out there. "

The big payback:

New Jersey coach Byron Scott was horrified to hear Jayson Williams, a former Net, suggest on NBC Scott had paid Kenyon Martin to put a hard foul on Karl Malone as payback for Malone's postgame last month: "My wife told me about that, too," Scott told reporters. "Somebody called her last night and asked her did she hear Jayson Williams said that I paid Kenyon Martin 50 bucks. If I'm going to play Kenyon Martin to take out somebody, it's going to be a lot more than $50, first of all. And that's a ridiculous statement. I mean, no way. I wouldn't pay my guys. I'm not that way, first of all. I wouldn't want anybody to take somebody out."

The handshake:

Knicks guard Latrell Sprewell provided the other big news of the week when he shook hands with P.J. Carlesimo for the first time in four years since he tried to choke his former Golden State coach.

Sprewell had opportunities in the past to do it but he said that he didn't want to be a hypocrite. However, time, distance and the New York revival of his career apparently caused him to soften his stance. Carlesimo was the color commentator for the NBC telecast. After the game, Sprewell was on his way to an ESPN Radio interview when he stopped at the table where Carlesimo was sitting. He said, "Merry Christmas," to Carlesimo. He offered his hand to Carlesimo. Carlesimo accepted, wishing him a happy holiday in return.

"It was so long ago," Sprewell told reporters. "Time heals all wounds. It's Christmas. We really should be thankful for a lot of things."

New coach:

Now that Dan Issel has resigned, because of an ethnic slur, assistant Mike Evans has taken over as interim head coach of the Denver Nuggets until further notice. General Manager Kiki Vandeweghe was faced with a decision.

"We're fine the way we are, but I might want to add an assistant coach," Vandeweghe told the Denver Post. "I have a few guys in mind that I would consider, but I don't want to name any names just yet. I haven't thought about it a lot because before today I still thought Dan [Issel] might be coming back."

There will be one immediate change. Vandeweghe said John MacLeod will join the bench staff full-time. MacLeod was hired in September as a consultant.

Vandeweghe played for MacLeod when he was coaching the New York Knicks. MacLeod also coached Dallas and Phoenix. Besides his NBA experience, MacLeod also coached Notre Dame and Oklahoma.

The administration also includes Clyde Drexler, who fills the role of Vandeweghe's special assistant. While Drexler has been involved in all aspects of running a pro basketball franchise, his attention also could be turned to the playing floor.

Evans began his stint as the official interim head coach with a 2-3 record while running the team in Issel's absence.

Lost opportunity:

Philadelphia had until Christmas Eve to use the medical exception they received for Matt Geiger, who retired last month with chronic knee problems. They did not. "We actively tried to figure out things," Larry Brown told reporters. "But nothing that we really wanted to do was available, and we didn't think there was anything that made our team better, or was physically or financially responsible."

Rumor mill:

Rumors have it that the Knicks will go after Magic coach Doc Rivers at the end of the season. Rivers said that he isn't going anywhere and he's under contact through 2004-2005.

"No way," Rivers told reporters. "Kris isn't leaving, so I'm not." Kris is Rivers' wife.

Streakers:

Houston's losing streak finally ended last week at 15. It was the longest since the move to Houston in 1971 and two shy of the franchise record set in the 1967-68 season. When the streak ended, confetti fell. Walt Williams fired the ball to the rafters. Cuttino Mobley stood at midcourt with his arms raised and prayed. Moochie Norris cried. "I never won a championship," Williams said. "It must be a feeling close to this."

New touch:

Minnesota's Kevin Garnett, a master of routine, has added a new touch to his free-throw shooting regimen.

Garnett now leaves the free-throw line to touch the basketball in the referee's hands before every set of free throws. He doesn't do it before every shot, just every set of shots.

Garnett explained to the media: "Everybody tries to get their own rhythm, whether it's shooting free throws or shooting 3-pointers. I can remember when Chris Webber used to do the little crank thing with his leg before he shot a 3, and it's very similar to that.

"It's working, it's going for me. And you know what? I'm not going to stop it. I think some of the refs get aggravated because it's slowing the game down and they're ready to get out of there, but it's working for me."

C'mon J-Will:

"With Jason Williams, you don't know what you are going to get," Clippers coach Alvin Gentry told reporters. "Nobody can deliver the ball like Jason. Not Jason Kidd. Not nobody. But the next time down the court, the ball might be in the fifth row. Don't get me wrong. I love watching him play. But I don't have to coach him. He makes plays that nobody makes, good and bad."

It's fun to wonder. It's human nature to ask, at times, "What if?"
Timberwolves coach Flip Saunders does both when he thinks back to the offer last summer to coach the Portland Trail Blazers. It's part of a career-long habit of pondering what he would do if he coached one team or another.

But after a Wolves franchise-best 19-9 start, he says he's glad he stayed put.

"I wouldn't have chosen Minnesota if I didn't think it was a better situation," said Saunders, who listed family comfort, love of the state and unfinished business with the team as factors for his decision to sign a contract extension with the Wolves.

Kings forward Chris Webber was discussing revenge Thursday, ticking off the ways in which his team could avenge a 20-point loss to the Timberwolves this month -- better rebounding, more energy, healthier players -- when he hit on what might just have been the key:
"That was there. This is here."

Playing in front of ARCO Arena's 99th consecutive sellout, in an atmosphere so loud Timberwolves players were poking each other in their faces because they had to use hand gestures to call plays, Sacramento broke Minnesota's three-game winning streak with a 125-111 blowout Friday and won its ninth in a row at home. Minnesota has lost four of its past five games in Sacramento.

It wasn't just the hecklers and foot-stompers that affected Minnesota. Sacramento shot 56.6 percent, had six players score in double figures tied the Wolves 38-38 in rebounding and held Minnesota to 37.5 percent shooting in the fourth quarter.

But as Wolves coach Flip Saunders said: "You can't get behind here. The crowd gets into it, their players feed off of it, and they don't let you come back."

A flagrant (1) technical foul in the NBA rulebook is defined as unnecessary. A flagrant (2) technical foul is defined as unnecessary and excessive.
After reviewing videotape at the request of the Nuggets of the Timberwolves' game Wednesday at Denver, league officials added "excessive" to their assessment of reserve forward Gary Trent's face-push of Denver reserve Ryan Bowen, which upgraded the foul to flagrant (2).

That means Trent's fine will be increased to $1,000. More important, Trent, who had two flagrant (1) fouls this month, has four points under the NBA's system of managing unnecessary and excessive behavior.

A total of six points triggers an automatic one-game suspension and a fine of up to $35,000. The Wolves, according to a team spokesman, never have had a player suspended for that reason.

NBA Commissioner David Stern, for the second time since imposing the initial penalties, has rebated one of the first-round draft picks stripped from the Timberwolves in the Joe Smith salary-cap circumvention case.

The Wolves' 2005 pick was reinstated, the league announced Friday. So the final tally of sanctions for signing Smith in January 1999 to a series of illegal contracts are: forfeited first-round picks in 2001, 2002 and 2004, a $3.5 million fine, a suspension to owner Glen Taylor and a forced "leave of absence" for Vice President Kevin McHale. Also, Smith's contract was voided and he spent last season with Detroit before re-signing (legally) as a free agent over the summer.

Why has the commissioner eased up on the Wolves?

"We're nice guys," coach Flip Saunders said, smiling.

MINNEAPOLIS -- Gov. Jesse Ventura leaves his seat and heads for an exit during a timeout in the final minute and berates the referees as he walks along an aisle just beyond the baseline, and it's tough to know for sure at that point whether the two security guys bookending the highest elected official in the state should be more at the ready to protect Ventura from potential harm or the nearby refs from flying Body parts.

It was that kind of night. (Or that kind of governor.) The Minnesota Timberwolves had just wasted a 22-point, third-quarter lead to the Dallas Mavericks, had been outscored 34-17 in the final period and had lost by four points. Coach Flip Saunders called it a bad defeat and forward Kevin Garnett

The Minnesota Timberwolves received a belated Christmas present from the office of David Stern: The return of a draft pick lost due to the Joe Smith penalties.

The Associated Press reports that the Wolves will get back their 1st round pick in 2005. ``In light of the other penalties that have been imposed on the Timberwolves, and the team's conduct since the Smith matter concluded, we feel it is appropriate,'' NBA commissioner David Stern said Friday.

Smith returned to the Timberwolves this fall, signing a six-year contract totaling $34 million after a season-long sabbatical in Detroit following Stern's decision to void his contract with Minnesota.

Minnesota did not have a 1st round pick in the 2001 NBA Draft and will not have 1st round selections in 2002 or 2004.

Just call Bobby Jackson, in his fifth NBA season, Mr. Efficiency.
Known to University of Minnesota fans as a scoring threat during his senior season with the Gophers, then known by those fans as a defensive stopper for two seasons with the Timberwolves, Jackson is doing a little bit of everything for the Sacramento Kings -- scoring, defending and recharging his teammates as a reserve.

"He's so much more of an efficient player,'' Kings coach Rick Adelman said of Jackson's biggest improvement since he moved to California before last season. "He's worked so hard on his shooting, and he's shooting the ball so much better than years before. He's more consistent and he does more things offensively than he did in some of the other (NBA places).''