In the early morning of March 30, minutes after Minnesota forward Eddie Griffin crashed his 2002 Cadillac Escalade into a parked car outside Santana Foods, a grocery store near the University of Minnesota campus, Griffin persuaded a store patron named Nick Schlossmacher to cancel a 911 call to Minneapolis police.

Griffin apparently didn't realize a Santana Foods employee also had called 911, though it took more than half an hour for a police cruiser to reach the scene.

During the time of the delay, the store's surveillance cameras recorded Griffin, a recovering alcoholic, saying he was drunk. The 6-foot-10 Griffin stood over Jamal Hassuneh, the owner of the damaged 2006 Chevy Suburban, and repeatedly offered to buy him a replacement vehicle in exchange for not involving police.

"Any car you want, except a Bentley," Griffin said at one point. "I'll buy it for you tomorrow. Whatever car you want, man. You can get a Hummer, Navigator, Escalade." Moments later, after again indicating he was impaired, Griffin said, "I can't go to jail."

Griffin didn't. And neither the NBA nor the Timberwolves took action against Griffin, who has twice been jailed before.

Last season, when Tracy McGrady or Yao Ming were hurt, the Rockets usually collapsed. This season, they've got the supporting cast to win those games.

Yao scored 25 points, Shane Battier hit a pair of key 3-pointers and added 17, and the Rockets beat the Timberwolves 82-75 on Tuesday night.

Tracy McGrady forced his way out of Orlando when the franchise begun to struggle and it appeared as though he would not be able to help the Magic win there.  Many have encouraged Kevin Garnett to do likewise in Minnesota, but McGrady says it won't happen.

"Me knowing KG, I know how loyal he is," McGrady said. "He's been there so long, he's stuck through everything that's been going on there. Everybody is talking about how he should demand things and get out, but he's a loyal guy."

The sympathy for Kevin Garnett continues to pour in, but he appears to be no closer to leaving the Timberwolves than he was over the summer.

"I would love to stay. That's my plan," Garnett said. "But it's got to be within the boundaries of winning.

"I take a lot of pride in being the face of the T'wolves. I'm pretty sure it would be weird to see me playing in another uniform.

"Everybody speaks from the newsstand, and the newsstand seems to be, 'That ain't working out for him. He needs to leave,'" Garnett said. "You hear former players speaking out. But if I was to go off what everybody else wants me to do, I'd probably be broke, out of the league, by the side of the road, living under a bridge. At some point, you've got to be a man and do what's best for you."

There continues to be speculation that Kevin Garnett will be dealt and his friend and former teammate, Sam Cassell, has an idea where he might go.

"They say in L.A. somewhere," Cassell said. "I hope it's not with the Lakers. They've got enough over there.

"He's all right," Cassell said. "Kevin ain't going to complain too much. Kevin's going to be Kevin. He's never going to complain about too much of anything. He's going to make it a game of poker. He's going to play the hand that he was dealt and play it to the best of his ability. That's one thing I respect about him."

Marko Jaric has been playing good basketball for the Wolves and Trenton Hassell believes he should start, even if it means taking his place in the line-up.

"They might want to think about starting him because he's playing so well," Hassell said after the game.

"My spot," Hassell said. "What do you mean? He ain't going to take (Ricky Davis'). He's playing well offensively. He's rebounding. He's playing with great intensity on defense. He's getting a lot of steals. He brings that energy."

Stephon Marbury and Kevin Garnett have not played together since 1999, and according to a report in the New York Daily News they do not seem to be longing for a reunion.

When asked about Marbury's return for last night's game between the Knicks and Timberwolves, Garnett asked to have the question repeated, then paused for a moment before issuing a terse response.

"It's nice to see Steph back in town," Garnett said without a smile. "I'm not going to front like I went to see him. I wish he and his family a Thanksgiving. My best to the Knicks. My focus is on getting some wins, and not on individuals."

From the way Marbury spoke, it was impossible to tell that the two were even teammates.

"It's always fun to play against Kevin," he said. "He's a very emotional player, he plays with his emotions, and it's always fun to go up against someone you share something with."

The Timberwolves moved the ball around and gave Kevin Garnett all the scoring support he could ask for.

Getting some shots to fall for once, the Wolves used 21 points from Ricky Davis and put together their most complete performance of the season to beat the Knicks 107-89 on Wednesday night.

Steve Francis, replaced in the starting lineup by Jamal Crawford, came off the bench to score 19 points, but there was nothing to smile about afterward in a subdued New York locker room.

"We were bad all the way around," coach Isiah Thomas said, before cutting short his interview session.

Fred Hoiberg still delivers from downtown. It's just that these days, he uses a fax machine.

"I'll be doing a lot of scouting this year, going to a lot of college games," Hoiberg said. "I'll be going overseas to do some scouting in February.

"My wife, I told her once I'd finished playing, I would be around a lot more." Carol Hoiberg, sitting to Fred's left, smiled at that one.

Now when the Mayor laces up to go to work, it's a pair of wingtips. His warmup suit comes with pinstripes and cufflinks.

The Wolves signed Vin Baker to a one-year, non-guaranteed contract with the Wolves on Oct. 2, but the veteran forward was released on Monday, according to the Pioneer Press.

Dwane Casey said that Baker did everything that the club had asked him to do and that alcohol wasn't a factor in the decision to release him.