Peering into futures

Kobe Bryant and Kevin Garnett will play each other just one more time in their careers — in Los Angeles in February — after they met Wednesday in Bryant's final Target Center appearance.

Garnett called their situations different, saying his return to Minnesota "had a lot more of a plan and the future involved in it" with his desire to help teach the team's young players and to be involved in team ownership down the line.

"I don't know what Kobe's plan is," Garnett said last week. "He doesn't sound like he's going to be in basketball after this. I'm hoping to obviously be a little more long-lasting in this organization. … Kobe, it seems like's the last hurrah for him."

Basketball and blockbusters

Like peanut butter and jelly or Leiber and Stoller, some things just go together, right?

That's why the Wolves' loss Friday at Denver was "Star Wars Night" and they'll return the favor by doing it all over again Tuesday night against the Nuggets at Target Center.

"For me, it's Nuggets-Wolves night, that's all I care about," Denver coach Mike Malone said. "Darth Vader, all the other stuff, I don't have any memories. I was in the gym growing up with my father in New York City watching guys play."

Calls 'em like he sees 'em

From the Takes One To Know One file: TNT analyst Charles Barkley talked about Sacramento's talented but less than sculpted center, DeMarcus Cousins, while working Thursday's New York-Sacramento game, "When you have success, you don't realize you're not in shape. … If he would lose some weight, instead of being an All-Star, he'd be a superstar."