A little divine intervention Former Timberwolves center Al Jefferson is away from the Utah Jazz over the weekend because he is home in Mississippi attending his grandmother's funeral. Before he went, he played three games knowing the woman who helped raise him had died at age 82. The day after she died, Jefferson went out and delivered a 33-point, 11-rebound night vs. the Pistons that included at game's end his first career three-pointer after 23 previous misses.
"I think that was his grandmother helping him out a little bit," Jazz coach Ty Corbin said.
No time to integrate Thursday's NBA trade deadline came and went without the Wolves making a deal, and even though the team didn't upgrade at any position to help their playoff push, coach Rick Adelman said that was just fine with him in this hectic, shortened 66-game season.
"There just are no practices at all," he said. "On the horizon, I don't see a lot of practice. Whoever made changes, it's going to be hard for them. They've got to hope guys pick up things quickly."
The appointed shopping rounds Injured Wolves rookie point guard Ricky Rubio seems to be in good spirits as he awaits surgery in Vail, Colo., on Wednesday to repair the torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee.
Last week, he tweeted a message to his 736,000-plus followers that said: "My knee is feeling better. In this video u can see how I can go to shopping" and then he included a 16-second video snippet that shows him rolling through a Target store, reclined on a motorized shopping cart with his left leg propped out straight.
You can see it here: yfrog.com/0vxmfxz.
