http://www.twincities.com/mld/twincities/sports/basketball/16744417.htm Home may be where the wins are, but even eighth-seeded playoff teams need a few road victories. Such is the Timberwolves' dilemma after they dropped their fifth road game in a row and ninth in their past 10 tries. Six of the Wolves' next seven games are at Target Center, where they are 16-9 this season. However, nine of their 15 games in March are on the road, where they are 9-19 after Tuesday's loss at Washington. "We're just trying to figure it out," forward Kevin Garnett said. "The hardest thing in the league is to win on the road. I feel like we're giving a valiant effort, we're just not putting 48 minutes together like we need to." Losing to the Wizards at Verizon Center, where the home team is 20-7, is nothing to hang your head about. But with five teams within 2? games of the final two playoff spots in the Western Conference entering Tuesday night, Minnesota will need to pull out some road wins in the home stretch. "We've got 30 games to fight for this positioning," Wolves coach Randy Wittman said. "It's a matter of trying to go out and get yourself on a roll. We have an opportunity to have some home games. Coming out of the break, it's an opportunity to try to get things in a positive way. If we can do that, I think playoff positioning will take care of itself." The Wolves' next chance to win on the road is at Boston on March 4. A frustrating day: Ricky Davis' emotion got the best of him in the fourth quarter Tuesday night, when he plopped himself down on the scorer's table and drew a technical foul after getting whistled for an inadvertent blow to the face of Washington's Gilbert Arenas midway through the fourth quarter. The swingman, who had an otherwise-strong 24-point night, still was unhappy with the refs after the game. "He shoots a lot of free throws and gets good calls," Davis said of Arenas. "I wish I could get calls like that and be great." Respect for Garnett: Wizards forward Andray Blatche grew up idolizing Garnett, but the Big Ticket didn't seem too happy with Blatche after the game. Blatche, who was starting for injured forward Antawn Jamison, had seven points and 12 rebounds matched up against Garnett. He also provided a lot of trash talking and a foul from behind on what seemed like an easy dunk for the all-star. "I used to practice his moves on the court," Blatche said. "The fact that I came out and played really well against him means a lot to me." Garnett was in no mood to talk about Blatche's performance, responding only "next question." Briefly: The Wolves have a quick turnaround with a game tonight against the Charlotte Bobcats at the Target Center. Minnesota will be looking to sweep the season series after a 102-96 victory in Charlotte on New Year's Day. Garnett, Blount and Davis all topped 20 points in that win. --

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