Continued: Three point-guard lineup works — once

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That was three point guards -- Kevin Ollie, Sebastian Telfair and Bobby Brown -- playing together in the fourth quarter Wednesday night against Golden State. With Ryan Gomes and Mike Miller both looking gassed after holding the Warriors to 12 points in the third quarter, Golden State coach Don Nelson then opted to use a small lineup. Minnesota coach Kevin McHale decided to counter.

"It was just something that happened," McHale said. "Those [guards] played very well together, so we just let them go."

It worked.

Telfair scored 14 of his 21 points in the fourth -- including a pair of clutch three-pointers 69 seconds apart -- helping the Wolves pull away for an eight-point victory.

It was speed that most notably worked out in the Wolves favor at Oracle Arena. But tonight at home against a Phoenix lineup that includes 6-6 Jason Richardson, 6-7 Matt Barnes and some 7-1 guy named Shaq, don't think a three-point-guard system is in the cards.

"No, no, no no," Ollie said. "I don't think we'll be doing that."

Two for one?

Forward Rodney Carney, an unrestricted free agent this summer, reiterated Friday he would like to return to Minnesota. But whether he signs here or tests the open market might depend on McHale's future with the organization.

"I like Mac," Carney said. "He's been in the league forever -- played, coached, been upstairs -- it's up to him. If he's tired of it, it's time to go. But if he wants to continue to do it, it's up to him. I want him to stay."

It's easy to understand why.

Since McHale took over Dec. 8 for the fired Randy Wittman, Carney's minutes have increased exponentially. Off the bench, he has played 20 or more minutes 22 times. He appeared in only 10 of 19 games under Wittman.

"Since the coaching change, I'm very happy here," Carney said. "I still have a lot to work on, but I think I bring a lot to this team."

Carney missed the past two games because of a hip injury but said he will be ready to go tonight against the Suns.

No sweet home

More than half the Wolves' victories this season have come away from Target Center. Not only that, but Minnesota generally comes out with more fire on the road.

While some players believe this is because a team can be more relaxed on the road (in-room dining, afternoon movies and naps chief among the perks of being away from home), how does one explain Cleveland's 38-1 record this season at Quicken Loans Arena?

"I don't know exactly all the reasons why, but we don't have that right now," McHale said. "We don't have a lot of good home mojo. We're going to have to find some."

McHale, by the way, was a part of the 1985-86 Celtics team that went 40-1 at Boston Garden. He said the Celtics didn't pay attention to their home record that year, largely because there weren't continuous news updates like today.

"Al Gore hadn't invented the Internet or global warming yet," McHale said. "If only we'd had Al Gore, we'd have known what we were doing.

"I don't even know what the hell we were doing back then. We were just playing."

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