Garnett blames himself and then steps up

LOS ANGELES - The visitors' dressing room at Seattle's KeyArena cleared out quickly after the Timberwolves' 102-100 loss to the Sonics, a game that slipped through Minnesota's grasp in the final 71 seconds.

By Steve Aschburner, Star Tribune

Last update: January 28, 2007 - 5:42 AM

Eventually, there was one chair, one man, lingering near his stall, hunched over, head in hand.

Kevin Garnett was sifting through it all.

"I'm not really happy with my play on this whole trip," the Wolves forward had said moments earlier. "I've got to turn it up another notch, take my [game] to the next level. I'm not really pleased with how I'm playing. Trying to get other people [involved], but I need to be a lot more aggressive than what I am. And flow better.

"I'm in no kind of flow like I would like to, going into the [All-Star] break. I've got to get this going."

Saturday provided quite a contrast. Garnett scored a game-high 32 points in the Wolves' 101-87 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers, adding nine rebounds and seven steals.

More significantly, it looked like he was having fun.

Before Saturday, it had been a difficult week. Five games in seven nights, trekking from Arizona to Washington state and back down to Southern California. One game -- for Garnett and teammate Ricky Davis as they served out league and team suspensions, respectively -- for which the NBA wouldn't even let them in the building.

There was that small matter of Dwane Casey's firing, followed by Randy Wittman's promotion. That meant more demanding practices to adapt to the new coach's style and strategy.

There was the losing streak, six games long as of Friday night, four of them coming on the trip.Finally, there was Garnett's play. On the trip, he had averaged 21.7 points, 9.7 rebounds and 4.7 assists, while shooting 45.5 percent. During the losing streak, those numbers were 18.4, 12.2, 4.0 and 42.4 percent.

At Portland on Wednesday, Garnett scored 31 points but missed a shot to win in regulation. He grabbed only eight rebounds in an overtime loss in which even one more might have won it. Garnett missed a 10-foot shot with 13.9 seconds left that might have clinched it. He was 0-for-3 with two points in the fourth quarter.

Other teams' defenses might not be stopping Garnett, but they sure do have him thinking.

"It's [up to] me being patient and understanding how they're playing me. Being a lot more precise," he said. "Sometimes I've got three or four different things I want to do ... instead of just taking the first one and reacting."

Bench pressing

The best thing about rookie Craig Smith's 26-point explosion Friday? Besides the fact that he scored them in 23 minutes, that is, or caught that outlet bomb from Garnett for a fast-break slam that made it 100-95, however briefly?

Smith's big output helped the Wolves' bench crush Seattle's 40-15 in points production

"It was open [inside] the zone a lot," Smith said, after roaming inside Seattle's defense. "I needed to be active. So I just went in there, put my body on the line and tried to get as many boards as I could."

With Wittman determined to dial back Garnett's and probably Davis' minutes as the season drags on, it will be more important for backups to provide more punch. He would like to rely on Marko Jaric for that, in particular, while sometimes staggering starters back into the game.

Steve Aschburner • saschburner@startribune.com

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