A poor man's Wally Szczerbiak is plenty good enough when the real one isn't available.

Utah's Matt Harpring, who shares many of the same characteristics as the Timberwolves' injured swingman, had a Szczerbiak kind of night in the Jazz's 95-77 victory over the Wolves on Friday night at the Delta Center. Harpring scored a career high for the second game in a row, topping his 30 points against the Clippers three nights earlier with 33.

The scrappy 6-foot-7 player hit 13 of 18 shots, nailed all four of Utah's three-pointers and grabbed nine rebounds.

A blue-collar, well-traveled fellow -- four teams in five seasons -- Harpring several times burned the Wolves' Kevin Garnett for sagging off him, but was just as pesky releasing quickly for fast-break buckets or tipping at missed Jazz shots for second-chance points and three of his team's 17 offensive boards.

That Timberwolves guard Rod Strickland ranks sixth all-time on the NBA's assists list is impressive.

That Strickland, despite his lofty status, has fewer than half as many assists as all-time leader John Stockton is astounding.

Strickland, a 14-year veteran who signed with the Wolves in October, was a solid sixth, with 7,539 assists heading into Friday night's 95-77 loss at Utah. He trailed No. 5 Isiah Thomas by 1,522, but had 147 more than Maurice Cheeks and 328 more than Lenny Wilkens. Gary Payton, the nearest active player, was No. 10 at 7,094.

"I've always prided myself on getting the ball to the right people at the right time," Strickland said before tipoff. "I've always wanted to end up on top somewhere in assists."

The unfairness of it all, matching a 6-foot-7 forward against a 7-foot superstar like Kevin Garnett. That mismatch practically guarantees a long, frustrating night, fairly ensures a couldn't-miss-if-he-was-blindfolded hot streak, and all but begs for a career-high scoring night.
   
Sure enough, Matt Harpring got it.
   
Three nights after his first 30-point game, Harpring set a new best-game standard Friday, blitzing the Timberwolves with 33 points, four three-pointers, nine rebounds and just five missed shots in the Delta Center. Just as important for the Jazz, he guarded Garnett so persistently -- with a whole lot of help from his teammates -- the $120-million man was muttering to himself, and Harpring, as Utah raced to its sixth straight victory, 95-77 over Minnesota.

New Jersey Nets guard Jason Kidd said a few days ago that, if drafted, he would make the two-year commitment to avenge Team USA's dismal showing in the World Championships this summer in Indianapolis.

Timberwolves forward Kevin Garnett hasn't been asked yet but expects to be, possibly as soon as today in New York. Garnett said Saturday that he wouldn't be surprised if NBA Vice President Stu Jackson visits with him while the Wolves are in town to face the Knicks at Madison Square Garden.

Garnett -- who won a gold medal in the 2000 Olympics in Sydney and competed in the 1999 qualifying round in Puerto Rico -- is willing to do his duty, under one condition: It's got to be fun.

"We had fun, man," Garnett said. "You didn't tell us that we needed to work. We were professional. When we stepped on that floor, it wasn't an ego thing. It was, 'Let's just get it done.'

"But I saw Baron Davis this year talking about how horrible, how he hated it. That's not why I signed up."

The U.S. squad lost three times and finished sixth, its first setback since NBA players joined the international competition with the Dream Team in 1992. Players such as Davis and Paul Pierce said they did not enjoy playing for Milwaukee coach George Karl, and Karl and critics claimed some U.S. stars played selfishly.

Garnett wants none of that rancor.

"I enjoyed myself with J-Kidd, I enjoyed myself with Gary Payton," he said. "Here I was with Tim Duncan -- my archrival! -- and we joked it up a couple of times. I want a fun coach and I want some fun players."

Patrick Reusse like many of us out there has had enough of seeing players come to the NBA to early, with dollar signs in their eyes and hangers-on saying 'take the money'.  He also has someone that he blames for all this, and his name is Kevin Garnett.

The Timberwolves played six seasons and were 240 games under .500 in the summer of 1995. They had the fifth selection in the draft and took Kevin Garnett, a high school player from Chicago.

There was one more woeful season (26-56), then Garnett helped bring the Wolves to respectability. He has become a star and the Wolves have become a playoff team, if nothing else, for the past six seasons.

Dollar signs appeared in the eyes of teenage hoopers all over the country when Garnett was taken fifth in the draft. And, when he became an immediate success (playing extensively and averaging 10 points per game) as a rookie, many of these lads said to themselves:

"I don't need a college career before going to the NBA."

There is an adage among players and coaches in the NBA.

Any given night, on any floor, any team can beat you.

Tonight, on the Philips Arena floor, the Minnesota Timberwolves did just that to the Atlanta Hawks, behind a 33-12 second quarter that saw a complete disintegration of the Hawks offense and defense.

Jason Walker brings the recap plus an injury update on Dan Dickau and the man who may replace him...

La Velle E. Neal III of the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports that the Timberwolves have health concerns. Coach Flip Saunders will be getting reports on Joe Smith and Wally Szczerbiak today. Then he will have to determine who will be available for tonight?s game against Memphis.

Smith has yet to play this season because of a groin injury. He has been going all out in practices recently and says he?s ready to go. If he really is ready, he will be activated for tonight?s game and will probably play some minutes off the bench.

"The good thing is that I haven't had any soreness," Smith said. "It's been pretty strong. I've been doing a lot of running. I've had two full practices, doing defensive slides and moving pretty well. I haven't had any soreness."

If Smith is activated, the Wolves must make a move to open up a spot on the roster.

While Smith is on the road back from injury, Szczerbiak is having trouble getting healthy. He has missed 7 of 11 games with foot and knee problems. When the pain flared up, he sat out the final 45 minutes of yesterday?s practice. "Wally is up and down," Saunders said. "He's one of those guys we have to evaluate every day."

Wally recently removed a metal insert from his shoe in an attempt to improve his mobility. "It's helped him some," Saunders said. "But even from a defensive standpoint, he's not able to move 65 to 70 percent of what he normally does. Wally has a great threshold of pain, so we have to make sure if we think he's doing too much. We may have to pull back."

Frank Isola of the New York Daily News reminds us that the Knicks are running out of time with their disabled player exception. They received a $4.5 million exception to replace Antonio McDyess who is out for the season after knee surgery. The exception must be used by December 2nd of it will expire.

Knicks president Scott Layden hopes to use the exception to trade for a point guard or a center. He has had preliminary talks with Memphis, who is looking to make moves after an 0-10 start. The Knicks are interested in Memphis big men Stromile Swift or Lorenzen Wright.

The Blazers and Timberwolves are two other teams that could be willing trade partners. Charlie Ward is one of the few Knicks that teams have expressed interest in because of his partially guaranteed salary next season.

La Velle E. Neal III of the star Tribune reports that Wally Szczerbiak is back. He stayed after practice to practice some moves and shoot free throws. After finishing he told reporters that he is back.

"I can go out there and ball," Szczerbiak said. "It's good to get back into the lineup. I have been working hard to get myself back into shape."

He still experiences minimal pain in his injured foot and will wear inserts in his shoes for added protection. Szczerbiak?s return to the lineup won?t be made official until he is given clearance by the Timberwolves? medical staff. If he?s cleared today, he will likely replace Anthony Peeler in the starting lineup.

"If he says he's ready to play, then we will play him," Wolves head coach Flip Saunders said. "We have had a lot of MRIs and bone scans -- everything -- done to it to make sure we are pretty confident that he won't hurt himself."