Wolves so close and yet still falling short

Danny Moloshok, Associated Press

Minnesota's Al Jefferson points as a defensive three-second violation is called against Los Angeles while Clippers' Chris Kaman defends.

The Wolves met their former teammates Sebastian Telfair and Craig Smith in their third loss in a row.

By JERRY ZGODA, Star Tribune

Last update: November 3, 2009 - 7:10 AM

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L.A. CLIPPERS 93, WOLVES 90 Up next: 7 p.m. Wednesday vs. Boston • Target Center • TV: Ch. 45 (1130-AM)

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LOS ANGELES -Sebastian Telfair's winter clothes are packed away untouched in his garage.

"Don't need those anymore," he said.

He doesn't now that he's living in Los Angeles and playing for the Clippers after the Timberwolves decided to go forth with rookie point guard Jonny Flynn and free-agent signee Ramon Sessions.

Telfair and Craig Smith met their former teammates for the first time in Monday night's 93-90 victory over the Timberwolves at Staples Center four months after David Kahn traded them and Mark Madsen away for now forgotten Quentin Richardson in a trade structure to create roster spots and salary-cap flexibility.

Kahn considered Telfair expendable after he drafted point guards Ricky Rubio and Flynn consecutively in last summer's draft. He deemed Smith the same because he was a 6-6 power forward on a team already undersized with Al Jefferson and Kevin Love up front.

On Monday, the Wolves were overcome by a Clippers team that won for the first time after an 0-4 start after center Chris Kaman delivered 25 points and 11 rebounds and forward Rasual Butler made four consecutive free throws in the final 19.4 seconds to secure the victory.

While Telfair and Smith came off the bench in measured roles for the Clippers, Wolves coach Kurt Rambis started Flynn for the fourth time in as many games this season and brought Sessions off the bench.

But also once again, he tinkered with the point-guard combination, searching for the guy who can get his triangle offense organized and running efficiently.

As he did in Sunday's loss at Phoenix, Rambis again turned toward Sessions -- who played 26 minutes to Flynn's 22 on Monday -- and ran the team for most of the fourth quarter, including the final 2:37.

"The effort's there," Rambis said of Flynn. "He loves the game. He wants to be terrific. I'm making it very difficult on him. I'm not letting him run the pick-and-rolls all the time. That's what he wants to do. That's what he's comfortable with. That's what he did at Syracuse. I'm challenging him to step out of that zone."

In the fourth quarter at Phoenix, Rambis removed Flynn from the game after he took a bad shot while playing alongside Sessions and kept Sessions on the floor at point guard for the rest of the game. On Monday, Rambis sent Sessions into the game with only 90 seconds gone in the third quarter after Flynn committed a turnover with the Wolves trailing by 13 points.

"You get turnovers, you get bad decisions," Rambis said. "That game at that point starts to slip away from us. We have those poor decisions. I'll let him make a mistake or two. If he can't correct himself, I have no choice."

So Rambis has called upon Sessions, who at age 23 is a veritable veteran because of his nearly two seasons in the league.

After Sunday's game, Rambis called Sessions "exceptional" at organizing and running the offense.

After Monday's game, he praised him again.

"He's been in the league," said Rambis, whose team has lost three consecutive games after a season-opening comeback victory over New Jersey. "He understands what his role is, what the job is. When things go awry out ther eon the floor, he knows if he does a good job of getting us organized and playing together, he'll get time. He's figured that out."

Sessions has played 26 and 31 minutes in the last two games after playing 18 and 21 in the first two.

"This offense, it's not easy," Sessions said. "It's going to take a while. It feels like game by game, I'm starting to get more comfortable out there. I'm just trying to run the team. That's what Coach wants. That's what I'm trying to do."