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The short weekend trip is a homecoming of sorts for Love, who went to high school Lake Oswego, Ore., and played last season at UCLA.
But for the rest of the roster, getting away from a familiar environment could be a good thing. Minnesota is coming off a 0-4 homestand at Target Center and has lost 10 in a row there.
“It will be nice, maybe get a little warmth,” forward Craig Smith said. “We’ve been home for a few games now where guys have been getting a lot of baskets on us and scoring a lot of points for huge leads. We’re going through a tough drought. What better way than to come out at the Western Conference champs?”
McHale changed it up today with an Austin Powers reference in response to a question about what his team must do to bounce back from Tuesday night’s embarrassing 118-94 loss to Golden State.
“We lost our mojo and our dog in the same week,” he said. “We’ve just got to go find the dog and find the mojo and we’ll be OK. We’ve just got to keep playing hard.”
McHale said consistency has been an issue with all the Wolves, but overall he gives good marks to Telfair, who has started 30 of the 53 games he’s played and is averaging 8.8 points and 4.5 assists.
“He’s played well,” McHale said. “Like everybody, he’s got to get better in certain areas, and he’s gone through ebbs and flows. But overall I think Bassy’s gone out there; he’s competed every night. He’s done what I’ve asked him to do, and he’s been competitive so he’s done a good job.”
Point guard still could be a top offseason priority for the Wolves, who will have money to spend in free agency and could have as many as four first-round draft choices.
What the Wolves need more than anything else is an organizational bouncer, someone who can cross his arms, glare at the regulars slumped against the bar and holler, ”You don’t have to go home, but you can’t stay here.”