Add in the return of former Celtics great Kevin McHale for the first time in his second stint as Wolves coach and this is a game with no shortage of story lines.

"Oh, man. I expect it to be a lot different," Wolves guard Randy Foye said. "Just because there's so much history between the two teams. You know, Al is there, Gomes, Bassy, and then they've got the big fella over there, KG. It's going to be intense. Trust me, that's going to be a game to watch."

Garnett and the Celtics won this season's first meeting at Target Center 95-78 as he scored eight of his 17 points in a decisive third period, then took the final quarter off.

The Celtics ran their winning streak to 10 games Friday night with an 86-78 victory at Detroit, while the Wolves lost at home 132-119 to the Los Angeles Lakers, giving them a two-game losing streak to end January after a 10-2 start.

Even so, Jefferson said this is a different Minnesota team than the one the Celtics blew out in Garnett's Nov. 21 homecoming.

"Most definitely," he said. "I think it's going to be a great game. We just want to go out there and play the way we've been playing all month."

Jefferson scored 23 points in the teams' first meeting and had 34 and 13 rebounds Friday in the loss to the Lakers. He has led the Wolves in scoring in each of their past eight games and said he is looking forward to returning to the place where he played his first three NBA seasons.

"It's always good to go back to those fans," he said. "I don't care what people say; they're great fans. When we were there losing and going through what we were going through, they were still there supporting us. Now I'm kind of happy that things are going good for them."

Actually, good is putting it mildly.

The reigning NBA champions own an NBA-best 39-9 record and are on their second double-digit winning streak of the season; they had a 19-game run earlier.

Between the streaks, the Celtics struggled through a 2-7 stretch that included a four-game losing streak, but they seem to have regained their championship swagger.

That makes this another major test for the Wolves (16-29), who set a team record by hitting just two field goals during the third quarter of that first game against the Celtics and were outscored 35-10.

Much has changed since then for Minnesota, which was in the midst of a 4-15 start under coach Randy Wittman but has been revived under McHale, who played 13 seasons for the Celtics and helped them win three NBA titles during the 1980s.

That could make this a strange day in Boston, where the opposing coach and the Wolves' returning players could get a reception similar to the standing ovation Garnett received for his Minnesota homecoming.

If nothing else, it shouldn't be dull.

"It's going to be a little bit different," Gomes said. "Especially me and Al being drafted there, we have a lot of relationships with a lot of people there. Now we'll have one of their all-time great players coaching on this side, so I'm sure there will be a lot of electricity in the building."

Briefly: Before their eight-point victory over the Pistons, the Celtics had won seven consecutive games by double-digit scores, including three by 20-plus points.