How confident were the Dallas Mavs that they would end their playoff series against the Timberwolves with a victory Sunday at Target Center?

Before the game, the Mavs, who had they lost would have had to play Game 4 today at Target Center, checked out of their Minneapolis hotel.

Glen Taylor wasn't breathing fire Monday, but he wasn't bubbly, either. A day after the Timberwolves slammed into a first-round wall for a sixth consecutive postseason, the Wolves owner eagerly talked about how to improve his team without tearing it apart. And he was ready to hold members of his team's front office to a higher standard.

But give Taylor credit. He still could crack wise about the Wolves' prospects for future success.

Asked if he might petition the NBA to move the Wolves to the Eastern Conference -- Charlotte, after all, is headed to New Orleans and would have natural rivals in Memphis and three Texas teams -- Taylor said: "I wish that would come through. But by the time it would, then the East would be the tougher side."

So that's not the Wolves' answer? "Shaq retiring is a better answer," Taylor said.

Don't mistake the humor for complacency, though. Taylor, 61, left Target Center quickly after the Wolves were eliminated Sunday, 115-102, by the Dallas Mavericks. He made a similarly hasty exit from American Airlines Center in Dallas after Game 1.

With Taylor's blessing, the Wolves' payroll is the NBA's 10th-highest. His chief basketball executive, Kevin McHale, and coach, Flip Saunders, have unrivaled job security, lucrative long-term contracts or both. Yet the team never has advanced to the second round and, at 5-18 in games and 0-6 in series, has the worst playoff record in NBA history.

It is all over for the Wolves, the fat lady has sung and now it is time to pick and complain about ever little last feature of every players game.

That is right it is the Star Tribune 2001-2002 players review, read on to see how this years pack of Wolves faired in their eyes.

MINNEAPOLIS ? Flip Saunders knew the question was coming. And after his team's sixth consecutive first-round playoff dismissal Sunday, the Minnesota coach is getting tired of answering.

Q: "How long can you expect your fans to remain patient?"

A: "I can't answer that. I can't say we're not going to get better. What's the alternative? What do you want me to say?"

There wasn't much anybody in the Timberwolves' organization could say after the Mavericks completed the three-game sweep at Target Center. The Timberwolves' postseason balance sheet looks like this: six of one (appearances), half dozen of the other (first-round exits).

The key statistics from Game 3 were exactly what the Timberwolves feared most. With Dirk Nowitzki, Michael Finley and Steve Nash combining for 94 of the Mavericks' 115 points, Minnesota found itself stuck between a rock and a hard place ... and another hard place.

MINNEAPOLIS ? When it wasn't Dirk Nowitzki, it was Michael Finley. When it wasn't Finley, it was Steve Nash. And when it wasn't Nash, it was even Eduardo Najera.

In the end, the Mavericks finished their series against Minnesota the way they began it, with their Big Three shouldering the load, with shots falling from too many angles from too many weapons, and with another victory, this time a 115-102 triumph.

Minnesota was simply outmanned, outgunned and outright swept.

The Mavericks' Game 3 scrapping past the Timberwolves on Sunday secured the franchise's first playoff series sweep. They advance to the second round for the second consecutive year, with a Game 1 reservation already set for 5:30 p.m. on Saturday. The opponent and place will be determined by the outcome of the Sacramento-Utah series, which the Kings lead 2-1.

MINNEAPOLIS - Just in case they had the wherewithal to put the Minnesota Timberwolves out of their misery, the Mavericks checked out of their Minneapolis hotel before Sunday's playoff game at the Target Center.

Consider it a wise decision.

With their Big Three stepping up big-time, the Mavericks flew home afterward with the precious item they came here for - a 115-102 victory and a 3-0 sweep of the Timberwolves in this best-of-five series. It was the first time the Mavericks have swept a playoff series and came at a time when this team can use some much-needed rest.

The Mavericks will next be in action at 5:30 p.m. Saturday in a best-of-seven Western Conference semifinal series against the Sacramento-Utah survivor.

Dirk Nowitzki scored 28 of his 39 points before halftime and lent his hot hand to Michael Finley in the second half Sunday, helping the Mavericks hold off the Minnesota Timberwolves and finish a three-game sweep with a 115-102 victory.

Finley had 13 of his 30 points in the third quarter and Steve Nash had 25 points and 11 assists for Dallas, which shot 13-for-24 from 3-point range and advanced to the second round for the second consecutive year and will meet the winner of the Utah-Sacramento series.

"We're always confident down the stretch," Nash said. "We've got so many shooters, we're bound to make a couple."

You love Sam Smith. You hate Sam Smith. No matter which camp you fall under, you can't deny his creativity when it comes to reporting trade gossip.

Last June Smith began to muse about the possibility of trading Elton Brand. On draft night, he was dealt to the Clippers. Earlier this season he spoke prophetically about a trade that would send Jalen Rose to Chicago. Remember that deal?

Now comes the doozy. Is Smith reporting a rumor or just talking to be heard when he proposes a trade of Kevin Garnett for Ray Allen, Tim Thomas and Anthony Mason/Jason Caffey?

Note that Smith's "sources" did not tell him this, a la Pete Vecsey. He simply proposes that such a deal might benefit both teams. But if this deal does go down at a later date, he'll be officially know as the Miss Cleo of NBA Reporters.

Wolves coach Flip Saunders had to be physically restrained by a pair of his assistants when his argument with referee Bill Spooner in the second quarter erupted into a full-blown confrontation.

What began as a gripe about a foul call on Kevin Garnett got much worse after Spooner allegedly wisecracked about another ref's grudge with Saunders.

Late in the Wolves' 112-80 victory over Toronto on March 19, referee Greg Willard made a snide remark about Sam Mitchell's three-pointer in the final minute. Saunders basically told Willard to butt out and said: "I think referees are supposed to ref games. I didn't know they were suppposed to give opinions."

That set up Sunday's beef. "Since that time, I've had two referees that, when I asked them about something, said, 'I thought you didn't want referees to give opinions,' " Saunders said. "One was before with Steve Javie, the other was tonight with Spooner.

"I told them I thought that was total bull. First of all, my problem was not with them, it was with Greg Willard. To bring something like that up in the heat of the battle, I don't know what you're thinking. . . . They all talk."

Saunders nearly fell as he was getting pulled away from Spooner but wound up getting only one technical foul.

It happened so quickly, Wally Szczerbiak didn't think he was in trouble. As turns it, it might have the biggest play in the Wolves' 115-102 series-ending loss to Dallas on Sunday.

With the Wolves trailing 104-101, Szczerbiak broke out for a fast-break opportunity with Dallas guard Nick Van Exel the only defender standing in his path. Wolves forward Gary Trent trailed on the right side, but Szczerbiak said he didn't see nor hear him.

Szczerbiak lost control of the ball going up, and in a scramble, Dallas forward Eduardo Najera dived in, grabbed the ball and called a timeout.

Dallas coach Don Nelson called it the biggest play of the game because the Mavericks went ahead 106-101 on the ensuing possession on a Najera putback layup.

In hindsight, Szczerbiak said he wished he had known Trent was on the other side. But he still thought he made the right decision.

"I was just trying to attack the basket as much as possible," he said. "I figured with Nick back, as long as I could get to the point where I was going up for the shot, he wasn't going to be able to stop it or block it.