The first two-thirds of the season have the Jazz playing as one of the top teams in the tough Western Conference. If the playoffs started today, Utah would be locked in solidly at the number six spot in the Western Conference, taking on the hottest team in the league -- the San Antonio Spurs.

The Jazz completely retooled their supporting cast in the off-season for Karl Malone and John Stockton. Nearly every move the Jazz made seems to have been in the right direction. The notable exceptions would be last year's and this year's first-round draft picks, who have yet to play a game because of injuries.

Soon-to-be 40-year-old Karl Malone is approaching free agency with the same enthusiasm as an 18-year-old piquing the interest of a Duke, Kentucky or Arizona.

"The way I look at it now is like how it was when you're a superstar in high school and the colleges are coming (after) you," Malone said. "It's kind of fun. It's kind of like that. We're standing at age 40, but you know my agent will handle that and I'll enjoy my summer."

"No matter what a guy says, he still wants to have that feeling that you're wanted," he added. "At age 40, it's somewhat exciting for me. It's not about playing games, but it's exciting."

Having joined the Jazz during the 2002 offseason, forward Matt Harpring is enjoying the best year of his career, averaging 18.4 points, 6.9 rebounds in 33.6 minutes. Earlier this season, Harpring posted back-to-back career highs, tallying 30 points on November 26 on the road against the Clippers and 33 points at home against the Timberwolves.

He is also on track to join the 170 club, a club reserved for the league's top shooters. Through games played Sunday, February 23, Harpring is the only player in the NBA that is currently shooting 50% from the field, 40% from the three-point line and 80% from the free throw line. (50+40+80=170). In the 23 seasons since the three-point shot was introduced, only 12 players have made the 170 club. Former Jazzman Jeff Hornacek made the club a record five times, and John Stockton has achieved the feat four times.

Not long ago, the Jazz were riding high, winners of four of five, their sights set on perhaps even gaining a top-four seed and homecourt advantage in the NBA's Western Conference playoff picture.
     
Now, having lost two straight and three of four, they sit sixth in the conference standings, 33-24 overall, and in danger, if they're not careful, of slipping to ninth, one spot short of what it takes to make it to the postseason.
     
If the Jazz are to return to their winning ways, coach Jerry Sloan believes, they must revert to playing as they once did.
     
Together.

On the whole, the Jazz would rather not be in Philadelphia.
   
Consider the reality that Utah's basketball team confronted Thursday, once the players awakened after a middle-of-the-night arrival.

Nobody knows for sure whether the Utah Jazz's ageless wonders, Karl Malone and John Stockton, executed their final pick-and-roll at Target Center on Wednesday, but Timberwolves coach Flip Saunders said their legacy as teammates is already secure.

"I don't think you'll ever see two Hall of Fame players, drafted by the same team, staying together the whole time," he said. "They are just extremely competitive, and their passion for the game is why they keep doing it."

But for how much longer? Malone and Stockton have not said publicly whether this season, their 18th as NBA teammates, will be their last.

The Jazz lost at Minnesota on Wednesday night without starting shooting guard Calbert Cheaney, who was sidelined by a stomach virus.
     
Cheaney was not feeling well at the team's morning shootaround, trainer Gary Briggs said, and at tipoff he was receiving an intravenous injection of replacement fluids.
     
Cheaney was replaced in the opening lineup by DeShawn Stevenson, who was generally lauded after scoring seven points on 3-of-7 shooting with two assists and no turnovers in 24 minutes.
     
"He stepped out there and he held his head up high," said Jazz coach Jerry Sloan, who added he only wished Stevenson had gone after more loose balls.

Considering their icy cold record against the Jazz this season, the Minnesota Timberwolves seemed due for a little wake-up call from their dreamy success of late.

Minnesota, after all, had won four straight prior to Wednesday night ? its last loss coming Feb. 17 at Utah. The Timberwolves had won 14 in a row at Target Center ? their last loss at home coming Jan. 4 to Utah. The Jazz also won the other game between the two at the Delta Center this season, sending them to Minneapolis this time in search of a series sweep.
     
So much for precedent.

Kevin Garnett saved his very best for last.

Garnett scored 12 of his 24 points in the fourth quarter and added 17 rebounds as the Minnesota Timberwolves beat the Utah Jazz 92-85 Wednesday night, averting a season sweep and extending their home winning streak to 15 games.

The Wolves won their fifth straight and their 11th in 12 games.

Kevin Garnett might be the MVP. Wally Szczerbiak looks like Mr. Clutch. Troy Hudson pilots it all as though flying a 747.
   
But when the Timberwolves needed a big play on Wednesday, Rasho Nesterovic was the one who provided it.
   
Nesterovic is the largest player in Minnesota's lineup yet the easiest to overlook, so it is fitting that he made a small contribution that produced big results. With less than a minute to play, the Slovenian center grabbed a long rebound of an Anthony Peeler miss, and the Wolves' better-known superstars turned that offensive rebound into the game-winning points, handing the Jazz a 92-85 loss in the Target Center.