At the center of Portland's breakdown on Wednesday night was Zach Randolph, who is again concerned with his scoring numbers, just two games after his teammates pleaded for him to pass more. Randolph touched the ball 16 times Wednesday and passed once -- which resulted in a dunk by Joel Przybilla.

Randolph was unhappy about not getting the ball enough, and after he made a poor pass in the third quarter that resulted in a turnover, Van Exel yelled on Randolph during a timeout.

"Where's your head?" Van Exel said. "Damn, we go to you every time."

Randolph tuned out Van Exel's comments by turning his head the other way during the timeout. By the time Cheeks reached the huddle to diagram a play, Randolph still was despondent, causing Cheeks to stop what he was saying and shake his head.

"Zach! Do you want to play?" Cheeks asked. "Do you want to play?"

Randolph was put back in the game, but 18 seconds later, he was pulled and did not return, finishing with 10 points and seven rebounds on 5 of 12 shooting.

"He was bad tonight," Cheeks said. "He's got to learn that this game is not just about scoring."