Hungry teams get in line to stomp Wolves' surge

SAN ANTONIO - Plump from a March schedule when they won six times against teams that have as much or as little for which to play as they do, the Timberwolves head toward April with a game tonight in San Antonio, concluding the season with six contests against opponents bound for the playoffs.

Their ascent in the past three weeks to 18 victories this season is good for their confidence and, in some cases, summer contract negotiations. This next schedule stretch, which began with Wednesday's 97-86 loss at Houston and continues against the NBA champion Spurs, will provide a more realistic read on how far they have progressed from their 5-34 season start.

"We're going to meet some desperate teams now," Wolves coach Randy Wittman said. "It'll be a good test to see where our heads are now. I want to see where our guys are as they try to meet the challenge."

The Wolves' spirit was willing but their skill and decision-making weren't in Houston, where they trimmed a 10-point third-quarter deficit to a basket twice in the fourth quarter before Tracy McGrady and the Rockets asserted themselves for the 25th victory in their past 28 games.

The Spurs, winners of five consecutive games after they had lost four in a row, are next, followed by Utah on Sunday and Detroit on Tuesday at Target Center, followed by games at Utah and Phoenix. Other than the Eastern Conference's Pistons, the other five opponents in this six-game stretch are Western Conference teams aware that even one squandered victory could have damning playoff consequences.

"A team that's aggressive and hungry and knows it really needs to win is a terrible team to face compared to a team that has nothing to win or lose," Wolves forward Kirk Snyder said. "All I can worry about is myself and play as hard as I can and play like it matters, because it does. Hopefully, some of our other guys take that challenge and do the best job they can do for us as a team and do the right thing. It's easy to do the wrong thing when nobody cares.

"When your parents are away from home, you can kind of do whatever you want. But when your parents are there, it's really important to do the right thing and that's what this is going to be like."

Wittman calls these final weeks of the season, when the Wolves won six of nine games before Wednesday's loss, and particularly this six-game stretch an examination of his players' professionalism. He also calls it valuable toward making postseason personnel decisions.

"Whether you're a playoff team or not a playoff team, you still have to play 82 games," Wittman said. "It's good to have a little momentum, but this is a whole different animal now that we're facing."

The Rockets delivered the fourth-quarter punch on Wednesday.

"These teams will hit you in the mouth -- I mean, not literally -- and they really don't care," Snyder said. "They want to take the life out of you and win the ballgame. Good teams do that. When they flip the switch, and it may be the game's first few minutes or right before halftime or in the fourth quarter, we have to have the resiliency and accountability to one another to fight through it and play hard."