The NBA has stepped in hoping to put an end to the war of words between the Timberwolves and the Nuggets leading up to Game 5.

According to Chris Dempsey of the Denver Post NBA vice president of operations Stu Jackson told members of both teams to zip it.

"He spoke to the teams and the players who made comments and told them that wasn't appropriate," NBA spokesperson Tim Frank said.

Things heated up between the teams after the Nuggets Francisco Elson called Minnesota superstar "gay" for hitting him in the groin in Game 4.  Elson later apologized to the gay and lesbian community for his comments.

"I would like to apologize to the gay and lesbian community for my comments about Kevin Garnett. I realize my comments were insensitive and they were out of character for me. However, I take full responsibility, and I have learned a valuable lesson."

"I didn't mean anything negative towards them or towards anybody about it," Elson said. "I said it, I apologized, enough said. Hopefully they will respect me and take my apology as it is."

Despite the warning from the league, the verbal comments did continue on Thursday.

Asked whether he expected more cheap shots tonight in what has become a physical series, Nuggets guard Jon Barry said: "You worry about that, them sending some thug like that, like Oliver Miller, to knock somebody out or something like that, at the end of the game if it gets out of hand."

Minnesota coach Flip Saunders is disappointed at the talking coming from Denver players.

"They can say all they want. No one wants to fight. These guys are not fighters. ... We're not going to get caught up in all that. I'm sure they're not. First of all, they are professional players. They are here to represent the league. The league isn't about fighting."

The status of Timberwolves forward Wally Sczcerbiak is worse than expected, with doctors relealing that Szczerbiak suffered broken bones in his back as a result of the fall he took in Saturday night's 107-86 Nuggets loss in Denver.

Szczerbiak is guaranteed to miss the remainder of the Denver series at least, while the games beyond this at this stage is unknown.

Szczerbiak, who had missed most of the season with a foot injury, lost grip of the rim on a fast break dunk late in Game 3 and fell onto his upper back.

Andre Miller's small shove on Wolves superstar Kevin Garnett late in Game 3 was no big deal to either player if you listen to them now, but according to Steve Aschburner and Patrick Reusse of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune it did have the potential to blow up into something bigger.

"It really wasn't a big deal," Miller said. "I didn't say too much, just pushed him out of the way and the ref gave me a tech."

With the Denver Nuggets already feeling relaxed and playful with the game in the bag Carmelo Anthony held the ball over at the Denver bench after a whistle, Garnett got peeved, and Nuggets guard Andre Miller stepped in with a small shove.  Miller was hit with a technical, but Garnett was all alone in Nuggets territory in front of the opposition bench, his teammates oblivious to what was happening.

Said Garnett: "No big deal in my eye, either. Part of the game. You go in some 'hood on the blacktop right now, it'd be worse than that."

Garnett did not feel the Nuggets got under his team's skin, even with the romping and celebrating.

"Not at all. That's what they're supposed to do," he said. "Hell, it was their first win in nine years or something [in the] playoffs. You can't worry about it. They're home, this is where the heart is. We can't let that be factored into the series."

Don't expect Wolves forward Wally Szczerbiak to be playing in Game 4 writes Steve Aschburner of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, with Minnesota coach Flip Saunders describing his status as "doubtful at best."

Szczerbiak fell on his back hard after losing grip on the rim on a dunk late in the third quarter of Game 3 on Saturday night. Absorbing the contact from Nuggets forward Chris Andersen on the play, Szczerbiak suprisingly was able to go to the foul line on the play then stay in the game.

The diagnosis was not as good on Sunday as Szczerbiak was said to be walking gingerly with a swollen, painful back.  As his teammates practiced Wally went for a MRI exam, the result of which will not be known until today.

"I've said it before: He's a tough kid," Saunders said. "He shot that free throw, and found out he was in too much pain to stay in the game. . . . He's definitely hurting."

Fred Hoiberg is expected to step in for Szczerbiak in Game 4, along with forward Gary Trent.  Hoiberg, a free agent signing from Chicago, showed his value earlier in the season playing regularly while Szczerbiak missed 53 games because of a foot injury.

"The rotation may just go back to the things we were doing early," said Hoiberg. "I'm comfortable in that role."

Hoiberg also is familiar with the type of play in which Szczerbiak got hurt. "I've had that happen a few times, and, normally, the day after, you're real stiff," he said. "Then gradually it gets a little better.

"The days off should help so that, if Wally's not able to go Tuesday, he'll be back Friday."

A common rumor in the NBA is altitude being one of the things a team must contend with when they play in Denver.  Being higher up means less oxygen which means... well.. it depends on who you ask says Steve Aschburner of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune.

"It's not just a myth. It's a physiological fact," said Denver backup center Michael Doleac, who already is studying medicine for his post-NBA career. "Your body's not used to that. It's also a mental thing, where you have to fight through it. So I think it's an issue."

But Nuggets coach Jeff Bzdelik said after practice Friday: "It's only a factor if we make it that way, through our effort. It's not just altitude, it's our play that's going to win us a game or make us competitive."

Minnesota's Latrell Sprewell and his good friend Denver's Marcus Camby might be going against each in the first round of this year's playoffs but they still have a great friendship that goes back to the day they were Knicks teammates.

"We spent hours and hours the last couple days just talking and reminiscing together, which is cool," Camby said Tuesday. "It's fun to be around him again."

"You put the friendship aside, definitely," Sprewell said. "It's a business, and it's all about winning the game. I'd like to be on the same team with him considering we're such friends, but it's fun. It's very competitive, and that's what it's all about."

He played for five years with the Los Angeles Clippers, never really getting close to the playoffs. So Sunday, as one of only two Wolves players without any playoff experience, Michael Olowokandi was taking care to take it all in.

"In my experience, it has never been matched, ever," Olowokandi, the Wolves' backup center, said of Sunday's Game 1. "You really got the sense of what you were out there playing for. It was fun. I saw how everybody got into it, how every basket had a different roar to it. It was fun."

Olowokandi played 18 minutes, picking up two rebounds and scoring four points; he had averaged 23 minutes, 7.5 points and 8.5 rebounds as the Wolves won their last nine regular-season games.

But the limited minutes might have been more because of the strong play of starting center Ervin Johnson than any opening-night nerves Olowokandi might have had. Johnson played 29 minutes, getting four points, five rebounds and three assists.

"Ervin played well, and when you have a group doing well, they'll get more minutes," Olowokandi said.

That said, Olowokandi figures to be a key player in any playoff drive the Wolves make.

"Five years with the Clippers, all we did was play for ourselves, to establish ourselves as individual players," he said. "We were talented. But, the sense of playing for something bigger? I never had that experience. Now I'm finally here."

Stoic Minnesota Timberwolves star forward Kevin Garnett went down the bench, acknowledging teammates and coaches one by one Wednesday during the final seconds of his team's victory over Memphis.

But for teammates Sam Cassell and Latrell Sprewell, Garnett had something more meaningful: a three-man hug.

During the past seven seasons, Garnett has been able to get to the playoffs, but never past the first round. The big knock was "The Big Ticket" didn't have a big enough supporting cast. No longer.

With the offseason additions of Sprewell and Cassell, the three combined to become the hottest-scoring trio in the NBA and earn Minnesota the No. 1 seed in the West Conference, clinched Wednesday in Memphis, Tenn. Together, they have given Garnett and Timberwolves fans hope they can not only get past a first-round matchup beginning Sunday night against the Nuggets, but make it to the NBA Finals.

"They've meant the world," Garnett said about Cassell and Sprewell.

Once "The Big Three" got comfortable with one another's games in mid-December, the Wolves ran to an 11-2 record during the month and dominated the remainder of the season en route to a Western Conference-best 58-24 record.

That trio also jelled off the court. They are regularly seen together sitting side by side on charter flights or hanging out in the Twin Cities' night scene.

"Once me and Spree figured out how to be successful in the system, the sky was the limit for this ballclub," Cassell said.

Said Garnett: "They brought a sense of no-nonsense here. A great sense of professionalism. They came in beautifully and met all the expectations."

Most of the suspense was gone. A monster, 22-2 second-quarter run had turned Wednesday into trash day in Memphis. The Timberwolves were thrashing the Grizzlies on the way to their first Midwest Division title, running out the string on a one-sided game.

And then, a moment.

Fourth quarter, and the shot clock was winding down. Wally Szczerbiak came across the lane and flipped a strange shot over his shoulder that went off the glass and in. Szczerbiak grinned, almost sheepishly, as he ran down the court.

The scene was a snapshot of visual evidence of where Wally's World is right now. He's having fun again, and just in the nick of time. The Wolves enter their playoff series this weekend against Denver with many questions left to answer, largest among them: Can they win a first-round series after seven consecutive early exits? But after two years of tough breaks, and a season of continuing frustration, Szczerbiak's health isn't among the Wolves' worries.

"I play my best when I have a smile on my face on the court," Szczerbiak said Wednesday. "You know, when you go through injuries, it is no fun. When you can't play the game you've loved all your life, it's no fun. But this? This is the most fun I've had in a Timberwolves uniform."

Rome might not have been built in a day, but its construction probably had a tighter schedule than the NBA playoffs.

Should the Denver Nuggets and Minnesota Timberwolves play a seven-game, first-round series, the matchup would span 17 days.

The Nuggets and Wolves, who begin their Western Conference series Sunday in Minneapolis, have two days off after each of the first four games, with a potential Game 7 not scheduled until May 4.

"When I first heard that, I said, 'Wow! Why'd they do that?' I didn't like that," Nuggets rookie Carmelo Anthony said Thursday. "That's a lot of time off. We want to play as soon as we can."

The schedule would seem to favor the Timberwolves, who have a 34-year-old point guard in Sam Cassell and three other regulars older than 30.

The Nuggets have two starters in their 30s, Voshon Lenard and Marcus Camby, but their overall roster is much younger than that of Minnesota.

"Sam Cassell, Kevin Garnett, you know these guys are going to be out there for 40-plus minutes," Denver guard Jon Barry, 34, said. "To get two days between every game, fatigue probably won't be a factor."