"It's crazy," Wolves rookie Kevin Love said.

Bizarre, too, is that the Wolves actually enter this two-game stretch on par with these teams. Lately, anyway.

Even after a loss to Detroit on Wednesday that coach Kevin McHale a day later called "mentally ... a big step back," the Wolves remain among the best in 2009. The team has a 10-3 record this month after a 4-23 start to the season. The Lakers and Celtics enter tonight's action 10-4 in January.

"It's a good test for us," Wolves center Al Jefferson said of this weekend's games. "We're ready to take the challenge to see where we're at."

This will be a significant barometer. Before Wednesday, the Timberwolves had some advantages against some of their January opponents.

The game against the Pistons was Minnesota's first against a fully healthy team in some time. The Wolves responded by coughing up an 11-point second half lead and eventually lost by nine.

"We have to be more focused," McHale said. "We have to be better in our assignments, we have to be on our spots. There's things we have to do."

In games earlier this month, the Wolves got hot against teams that were shorthanded, defeating Milwaukee minus Andrew Bogut and Michael Redd, the Clippers without Marcus Camby, Chris Kaman and Zach Randolph and New Orleans without Tyson Chandler and David West.

The absence of those players -- particularly the big men -- allowed the Wolves to attack mismatches, usually getting big performances out of Jefferson (24 points and 14 rebounds against New Orleans last week, for example).

That kind of mismatch will be a little harder to come by in the next two games.

It starts tonight with the Wolves trying to contain Lakers forward Pau Gasol and center Andrew Bynum, both 7-footers.

The game plan appears simple.

"You just have to block them out," Jefferson said. "Put your body on guys, and they can't jump as high. They're some big guys, but, you know, we're big, too."

Big? Jefferson's pursed lips and wandering eyes at that last statement were an indication that's not exactly true. The Wolves, without a true center, lack size and instead will have to find another way to compete with two of the league's premier teams.

Aside from shutting down Gasol and Bynum tonight, there's hot-shooting Kobe Bryant to deal with. Then comes the Celtics' big three of Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen on Sunday.

McHale, though, refuses to put too much stock into the weekend.

"Our goal is to be better a month from now," he said. "We're not going to gauge anything on L.A. and Boston whether we win both or lose both. We gotta get better."

He points out that the Wolves also have had some manpower issues recently, and scoffed at any mention that the Wolves took advantage of teams missing players.

Corey Brewer hasn't played since tearing a knee ligament in late November. Kevin Ollie has been out since Jan. 3 with a dislocated elbow and McHale apologized to Sebastian Telfair (sore thigh) for playing him as much as he did Wednesday.

These players, though, are not the caliber of the difference-makers Wolves opponents have played without of late, or of the stars they will face against Los Angeles and Boston.

"We've got a handful," Jefferson said. "But you just have to try and stay between them and the basket."

Discuss the Wolves during tonight's Lakers game on Jerry Zgoda's On the Wolves blog at startribune.com/wolves.

WOLVES VS. L.A. Lakers

7 tonight - Target Center

TV: Ch. 45 (1130-AM)