Big switch works magic on Wolves

PHOENIX - A Timberwolves team now seven games away from calculating its NBA lottery probabilities met an opponent primed for the playoffs at U.S. Airways Arena on Friday night.

The Phoenix Suns predictably delivered a 117-88 victory that was over almost as soon as it started.

The Wolves had won two of their first three meetings with the Suns, but those were before a franchise that has failed to transform two recent 60-victory seasons into tangible playoff success acquired Shaquille O'Neal in a trade from Miami two months ago.

On Friday, the Suns led 34-13 with a minute still remaining in the first quarter on a night when the Wolves couldn't make a shot early when it counted most and when Wolves coach Randy Wittman attempted to counter a Phoenix front line that now starts O'Neal at center and Amare Stoudemire at power forward with an Al Jefferson-Michael Doleac combination.

"Were we down 20 after five minutes?" Wolves forward Kirk Snyder asked.

No, it only felt like it.

O'Neal scored five points but contributed 11 rebounds and a presence that had Wolves players double-clutching shots.

He also might have been the reason Wittman lamented afterward his team's reluctance to attack the basket. The Suns attempted 30 free throws to the Wolves' 13 and outrebounded the visitors 52-39.

"He's a presence," Wittman said. "He affected our guys. His [statistical] line doesn't show what he does. They're better defensively with him out there, no question."

Stoudemire, freed to play power forward and dominate defenders at that position since the big trade, produced 24 points and nine rebounds while matched up some of the night against Jefferson, whose 24-point, 12-rebound game paled compared with his performances in victories over the Suns at Target Center in December and January.

"I just missed a lot of easy shots," said Jefferson, who made 11 of 26 field-goal attempts. "Shaq, he's a big guy. He's long. But the shots I missed, I normally make."

The trade upon which Phoenix General Manager Steve Kerr has bet his reputation and escalated a growing arms race in the Western Conference might have never been made if Jefferson hadn't destroyed Stoudemire twice at Target Center this season.

Jefferson averaged 35.5 points and 17.5 rebounds in two victories -- one in December, the other in January -- that might have convinced the Suns' brass they needed to do something dramatic if they intended their team to have a prayer in the playoffs.

Dramatic, O'Neal's presence is.

"Al had some incredible looks that he normally doesn't miss," Wittman said. "It affected him. He was looking for Shaq too much."

Ryan Gomes was the only Wolves starter who made as many field-goal attempts as he missed. The team's starting backcourt -- Randy Foye and Marko Jaric -- shot a combined 10-for-31. The first two players off the Wolves' bench -- Corey Brewer and Rashad McCants -- combined to shoot 5-for-18.

"You can't continue to hoist shots if you're going 5-for-16 or 2-for-13," Wittman said.

The clock is ticking on Wolves guard Sebastian Telfair, who hasn't played since he sprained his ankle in a March 7 game at Sacramento. He continues to have soreness in his foot when he tries to move laterally. Only seven games and 12 days remain in the season.

"The next couple days will be important, to see how I feel, to see if I can get back to close to 100 percent again," Telfair said. "I want to play again [this season], but that my ankle is healthy is more important than anything."