Timberwolves fans clamored for more last season, and their team listened: WFTC Ch. 29 will carry 25 over-the-air Wolves games this season, an addition that means fans locally can see 78 of the 82 games.

That's the most the team has broadcast, dating to and including the Kevin Garnett era.

No over-the-air games were carried a year ago because of a labor lockout that delayed the season's start until Christmas Day and prevented the team from scheduling a package of games.

That meant only 50 of the 66 games were carried on FSN, and that meant several prime Friday or Saturday night games could not be seen in the Twin Cities.

Included among those missed games was Ricky Rubio's first NBA start.

Ch. 29 last carried games two seasons ago, 12 of them.

WFTC Ch. 29 will carry those upcoming 25 games, FSN (and its "Plus" network) will carry 50, and three more will be telecast exclusively by TNT. Another six ESPN or NBA TV games also will be shown either on Ch. 29 or FSN as well.

The only games you won't be able to see locally are home games Jan. 19 against Houston and April 5 against Toronto and games Jan. 21 at Atlanta and March 21 at Sacramento.

"We certainly heard from our fans," Wolves senior VP and chief marketing officer Ted Johnson said. "Given that it was an exciting season -- we saw all numbers spike, from attendance to ratings on FSN -- we knew there certainly was an appetite to see more games.

'''It was a given we'd have an over-the-air package, but not a given we'd go as aggressive [with 25 games] as we did."

The Wolves will begin selling 12-game "flex" package tickets Thursday at the Minnesota State Fair and on timberwolves.com.

If you're not a season-ticket holder, it's the only way to get tickets to games against the Lakers, Thunder, Heat and Celtics. Those games will not be available during single-game sales.

The team also will sell at its State Fair booth 100 season tickets at $3 per game -- No. 3 is new Wolves guard Brandon Roy's uniform number -- or $129 for the season for seats in Target Center's upper-level end zones.

JERRY ZGODA