There was a lot of merriment and goofiness on the Cavaliers' side Wednesday night, from LeBron James' dance-off with an usher to James, Shaquille O'Neal and Anthony Parker tickling Daniel Gibson after Gibson was knocked to the floor. Lots of laughter, not much competition in a routine blowout over the Timberwolves.

In response, the Cavs' hapless foils on Thursday vowed that someday, somehow, with heaven as their witness, they will extract their blood revenge by ...

Oh, never mind.

"If we were in that situation, we'd do the same thing," Wolves forward Al Jefferson said. "It's fun when you win. You're smiling, joking -- I don't think they meant any disrespect."

No, if there was any disrespect, Jefferson said, it was in how the Wolves have disrespected the sport lately with lethargic efforts. Minnesota has lost five consecutive games and is 2-10 in January. Worse, the Wolves were swept on their just-completed three-game road trip by a combined 74 points.

Which is why Jefferson isn't surprised that Wolves opponents seem to approach their games with hilarity, not intensity.

"Why would you take us serious? If we played hard, they'd probably take it serious," Jefferson said. "It starts with us. If we don't play hard, that's what we get. If we played the way we played the first quarter last night [when Cleveland managed only a one-point lead] the entire game, they wouldn't be playing around and joking. But I can't blame them. They're having fun."

Shooting is a delicate, fragile skill. One stray twitch can turn a game-turning 20-foot swish into just another failed possession.

Corey Brewer has noticed. Even better, he has adjusted.

"I recognized early on that he had balance issues on his shot," Wolves coach Kurt Rambis said. "He had some bad habits in how he initiated his shot, so we've spent a lot of time working with him on his balance."

Which is why coach and player both believe Brewer's noticeable improvement over the past month is not a random fluctuation but a permanent upgrade. The third-year guard is a 40.8 percent career shooter, but he's made 43.6 percent this year, and 49.2 percent since Jan. 11.

The change is even more dramatic from long range, where Brewer has quietly become the Wolves' most reliable three-point shooter.

He made only 12 over his first two seasons in 48 attempts, but under Rambis, the 6-9 guard has made 34 of 101 tries, a 33.7 percent success rate. And since Jan. 8? Try 23-for-46, a 50 percent mark that has convinced his coach that Brewer is a valuable weapon on the wing.

"He still has a bit of a quirky shot," Rambis said of Brewer's high release point, "but he's got great rotation, perfect arc on the basketball and a nice line. He's shooting the ball with a lot of confidence."

• The Wolves concentrated on defense during a 90-minute practice Thursday. "Our rotations have been all messed up," Brewer said, and poor communication is at the root of it. Added Kevin Love, "Sometimes out there it's like a ghost town -- we're not talking."

• Rambis said he is considering another lineup change Friday against the Clippers -- perhaps making Love a starter again after two games off the bench -- but hasn't decided. "We're having too big a slide in our second unit," Rambis said. "I've got to find a way to bolster that but not take away from the first unit."