Sam Cassell scored 23 points in just 22 minutes on Saturday afternoon to lead the Timberwolves to a 96-75 blowout of the New Jersey Nets.

``We'll see how everything shakes out,'' said coach Kevin McHale, declining to be more specific.

Said Cassell: ``If he decides to put me back in the starting lineup, that's fine. But it doesn't matter who starts, it's who finishes. I know I'm going to be on the court in the fourth quarter.''

``I know for a fact I'm a starting point guard in this league,'' Cassell said. ``I'll do what this team needs me to do right now. I've been hurt for a while, and I need to make up for lost ground. That's what I'm trying to do.''

Vince Carter scored 16 points for the Nets.

He has been injured all season, however, Sam Cassell seems to running on all cylinders at this moment and is leading a late Timberwolves push toward making the playoffs.  

"We have to have a run, an eight-game winning streak, something like that," Cassell says. "I think this team has the capability of doing it, but I have to stay on the court."

His scoring is back up again, putting together an 18 point performance in 26 minutes on Sunday and a 14 point performance on Wednesday, both Timberwolves victories.  

His return to form also has bolstered the confidence of teammates. "We're at our best when Sam's out there getting everybody fired up," Fred Hoiberg says. "Hopefully he can play out the rest of the season now."

With Troy Hudson's hot first quarter shooting giving Minnesota a nice early lead, the Timberwolves were able defeat the Hornets 107-102 on Wednesday night.

There are only 13 games left in the regular season, and from here on out every game counts.  The Wolves are only 2 games back from the Denver Nuggets, who retain that coveted eighth and final playoff spot.

At one point Minnesota had a comfortable 20-point lead, only to allow the Hornets to battle back within four points.  If this team is going to make the play-offs, they cannot hand their opponents these golden opportunities.  They need to finish off each game as strong as they start.

"We're nursing those leads a little bit," coach Kevin McHale said.  "We just have to play better defense."

With Denver playing phenomenal basketball over the last couple weeks, and winning 12 of 13, Minnesota needs a little luck along with a winning record to get a play-off birth.  

"Every game is a playoff game for us right now," Fred Hoiberg said after Wednesday's match-up. "Especially with Denver playing the way they're playing."

Once again Kevin Garnett had a stellar performance.
With his 24 points, 13 boards, and 5 assists, he was named player of the game.  Wally Szczerbiak had a quiet night, while Sam Cassell came up with a solid 14 points, and four assists.  Sam's return is a welcome addition to this team right now.  He may well provide that spark they've been desperately searching for.

Minnesota Timberwolves forward Mark Madsen will miss the remainder of the season with a ruptured ligament in his right wrist.

Madsen was injured on March 15 against Dallas and hasn't played in the last three games. He also missed 24 games earlier this season with a broken left thumb.

"(Trainer) Gregg Farnam, Kevin McHale and I had a lot of talks about trying to play the rest of the season," said Madsen, who is averaging 2.1 points and 3.1 rebounds this season. "But we thought about the risks of that and that we have a healthy Ervin Johnson and it was a no-brainer."

The Akron Beacon-Journal is reporting that recently fired Minnesota Timberwolves coach Flip Saunders is the Cleveland Cavaliers prime target to replace recently fired Cavalier coach Paul Silas.

By taking a job in Cleveland, Saunders would inherit a team that has lost 9 of their past 12 games.  

Silas, meanwhile, could emerge as a candidate for the Wolves' coaching vacancy.

The Minnesota Timberwolves hard working reserve, Mark Madsen, sat out his third consecutive game last night with an injury to his right wrist.

"We're in an information-gathering stage," Madsen said. "It involves a ligament ? to what extent, that's what we're trying to figure out."

Everyone has been psychoanalyzing the problems of the Minnesota Timberwolves, but perhaps all along the answer has been as simple as Sam Cassell.

Cassell had one of his finest seasons last year, leading the Wolves to the best record in the west, but this sesaon he has played in just 44 games and now they might miss the playoffs.

The point guard had 18 points on a sharp 7-9 shooting as they beat the Rockets by a final score of 94-86.

``That's the first time we've seen Sam in awhile,'' the always keen Fred Hoiberg said. ``He was very aggressive. That's when we're at our best is when he's out there getting everybody fired up. Hopefully he can play out the rest of the season now.''

``We have to have a little run right now, an eight-game winning streak, something like that,'' Cassell said. ``I think this team has the capability of doing it, but I have to stay on the court.''

The Memphis Grizzlies activated guard Bonzi Wells for Friday night?s game versus the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Wells missed 7 games with a herniated disc.

Dahntay Jones goes to the injured list with a tendonitis in his left quadriceps.

The Grizzlies beat the Timberwolves by a final score of 88-83, dropping KG's squad to 2-1/2 games back of the Nuggets for the final spot in the Western Conference.

Marcus Camby had one of his best performances of the season on Friday, posting a 20-point, 17-rebound night in Denver's 115-96 win over the Los Angeles Clippers.

``The only thing I'll say is, he's a lot better than I ever thought he was,'' said George Karl. ``If you look at the kid, he's playing at a top-10, top-15 level in all of basketball right now.''

The Nuggets won for the 10th time in 11 games and took a 2 1/2-game lead over the Lakers and Timberwolves in the race for the eighth playoff spot in the West. They're only 3 1/2 games behind seventh-place Memphis.

``We've got the eighth spot, now we'll try to go out and get the seventh,'' Anthony said. ``All we've got to do is keep winning games and we'll see what happens.''

Sam Cassell, Michael Olowokandi and Eddie Griffin returned to the Minnesota line-up on Tuesday, helping the Timberwolves to a big road win in Dallas.

Cassell scored 15 points in the 100-91 win over the Mavericks.

``We don't have a lot of time,'' said Garnett, who also had 12 rebounds and seven assists. ``Every game is a desperate game. That has to be our mind-set.''

``It's nice to have some different people you can go to,'' Minnesota coach Kevin McHale said. ``All three of them did a tremendous job, especially for not playing in a while.''

Cassell had missed seven straight, and 22 of the last 33, with a strained right hamstring, while Olowokandi and Griffin both had missed the last nine games.