Jefferson tries to forget, and focus

Al Jefferson drew the defensive assignment on the man he was traded for.

By JERRY ZGODA, Star Tribune

Last update: November 22, 2008 - 12:32 AM

When the Wolves and Boston Celtics notably met for the first time last season, Al Jefferson and Kevin Garnett jawed at each other so enthusiastically before a free throw that each player was whistled for a technical foul.

Later, it was learned Jefferson provoked the esteemed former Timberwolf for whom he was traded that previous summer by saying they both had something in common: zero NBA championships.

Jefferson couldn't use that line when the teams met Friday at Target Center. Not after Garnett and the Celtics won 66 games and the franchise's 17th league title last season.

"No, I really can't," Jefferson said. "That ought to teach me to shut up."

Jefferson drew Garnett as his defensive assignment Friday night, the first time Garnett played at Target Center since his final game as a Timberwolf on April 9, 2007, against Toronto.

"I'm going to have to guard him tonight," Jefferson said before the game. "I better save all my energy for that."

A season ago, the Wolves, winners of 22 games all year, took the Celtics to the final seconds twice, losing a pair of games by three combined points within two weeks of each in late January and early February.

"I'm trying to forget," Jefferson said. "I remember they won that game in Boston and I was just getting over that game and we had him here and it was like the same game all over again. Two great games, two games that we could have won but didn't."

McCants out

Wolves reserve guard Rashad McCants did not play Friday because of a bad back. He left Wednesday's game against Philadelphia in the second quarter because of spasms.

Veteran guard Kevin Ollie missed his second consecutive game because of an injured calf.

Scouting KG

Randy Wittman coached Garnett for nearly 10 seasons, experience that probably only helped a little Friday night.

"We know his tendencies a little bit, but, I mean, he's still a hell of a player," Wittman said. "You just try to limit what he likes to do from the spots on the floor he likes to operate from. Not one guy's going to stop him. Not one guy's going to stop Paul Pierce. We have to be more concerned with the whole group rather than one guy."

Two teams that...

Both Wittman and Jefferson dismissed the notion that Friday's meeting was a rivalry game, but Wolves guard Sebastian Telfair -- one of five players acquired from Boston for Garnett -- disagreed.

"Yup," he said when asked if it was. "It's a rivalry game. Rivalry games are fun. If you want to make it that, we're up to the challenge."

Anybody remember?

In the midst of the Wolves' 20th anniversary season, Boston assistant coach Tom Thibodeau returned to Target Center on Friday. He was a first-time NBA assistant on Bill Musselman's staff for the franchise's first two seasons, from 1989 to '91.

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