Stop me if you've heard this one before. Chris Paul inbounds, and the Wolves lose.
Surely the Wolves haven't so exhausted all the various ways to lose a game that they've started repeating themselves. But that's sure how it looked Friday, when the Hornets ran the same play they used to beat Minnesota last month, the Wolves knew it was coming -- and the result didn't change.
"It's pretty tough," said Jonny Flynn. "We have to stay mentally in the game."
Or at least properly execute a switch. For the second straight time, the Hornets played a two-man game on the side, and both Wolves defenders stayed with one man -- leaving the other open for a game-winning layup.
The Wolves were clearly not going to let Paul get free this time, because he beat them in December when the defense focused on the ball instead. But tonight's mistake was just as fatal -- Corey Brewer and Damien Wilkins left Posey alone with the ball while they followed Paul.
"We did a good job of sending (Paul) to the ball, but you can't let him go over the top," coach Kurt Rambis said. "We mishandled the switch."
Al Jefferson seemed particularly pained by the play, and it's no wonder. He had so overpowered Emeka Okafor inside, it seemed he could have scored 50 points if the Wolves had gotten him the ball a little more. Yes, it seems odd to suggest that a guy who took 21 shots didn't get the ball enough, but it was obvious how helpless the Hornets' defense was against him.
A couple more odds and ends before heading to Milwaukee: