Wolves: Jaric will continue to start at point guard

SACRAMENTO, CALIF. - Timberwolves coach Randy Wittman stayed with his reconfigured lineup Saturday for the second consecutive night, starting Marko Jaric at point guard and bringing Sebastian Telfair off the bench against Sacramento in an arrangement that received mixed reviews after Friday's 107-93 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers.

Wittman made the change Friday because he said he wanted a boost from a bench that had helped let sizable early leads slip away in the season's first three games. The same thing happened against the Lakers, but Wittman said he thought the new look worked "fine" and stayed with it Saturday.

"It's just a feel, nothing more than that," Wittman said before Saturday's game. "So we're going to go the same way. There really isn't anything one way or the other. Bassy gave us good energy last night coming off the bench, played well. So we'll stay the same."

The Lakers' game-changing run came to start the third quarter, a 12-2 burst against the Wolves' starters that created a 16-point deficit from which they never recovered.

Jaric, understandably, enjoyed the switch.

"I like it, I do," said Jaric, who earned his way into the start with a 10-assist game against Indiana on Tuesday. "The more I play, the happier I am. I'm trying to give this team as much energy as possible."

McCants ready

Rashad McCants worked out his sprained ankle Saturday morning in Sacramento and was deemed ready to return against the Kings in a reserve's role. McCants was injured early in Tuesday's loss to Orlando.

"We'll see how he feels," Wittman said. "If he has no lingering effects, we'll play him like we normally do. If he begins to get sore, we've got to watch that, too. He says he feels good, ready to go."

Dipping his toe in

The little toe on his left foot still is swollen and purple and throbbing, but it didn't stop Gerald Green -- the gifted, enigmatic guard acquired from Boston in the Kevin Garnett trade -- from playing the final 10 minutes of Friday's loss at Los Angeles, his first real action of the season. Until then, he had been sidelined by inconsistency and that infected toe, playing just 45 seconds in the team's first three games.

On Friday, he entered the game after Corey Brewer was ineffective in the first half and almost immediately hit a three-pointer.

"That's not the easiest thing to do, sitting there like that," Wittman said.

He scored five points on 2-for-4 shooting, had one rebound, one assist, one steal, two fouls and two turnovers. Green said he is taking antibiotics for the infection.

"It hurts, but I wasn't thinking about the toe," he said with his foot covered with powder after the game. "It's just something I have to practice and play through. Right now, it kills, but it's not something I can let hold me back."

Not again

Through the first four games, the opposition has attempted 94 more free throws, an average of 23.5 a game more than the Wolves. On Friday night, the Lakers outdistanced them in free throw attempts 41-14.

"The free throws are a nightmare," Wittman said. "It's déjà vu, like, 'Is this real or not?' Forty-one to 14, is that what it was? And we're still in the game. If we ever get that under control, it's going to give us a fighting chance."

Wittman wants his players to reach less on defense and commit fewer silly fouls. But he also contends his team has to earn officials' respect.

"Hopefully, the whistles will change," he said. "Our guys are getting smashed as much as they are down there."

Jerry Zgoda • jzgoda@startribune.com