Namely: If they couldn't sell out that game, what chance do they have of filling it up even once this season? And why would anyone who sat through Friday's brick-fest want to come back for more?

"We definitely want them to come back," point guard Randy Foye said Saturday. "We want to give them a reason to get excited about what we're doing. I think the fans were really into it in the first half last night, even though it was an ugly game. We just didn't come out with the same energy in the second half that we had in the first."

If the Wolves (2-9) are going to win over the home fans, they're going to have to start winning some games first.

And to start doing that, they're going to have to shoot better than they have so far.

Friday night's 31.3 percent effort was the Wolves' season worst, but it wasn't far off the norm for a team that hasn't met its preseason billing.

"We're a better shooting team (than this)," coach Randy Wittman said. "There's no question. Randy Foye is 20 percent from three. Rashad (McCants) 18. Kevin Love is a better shooter than he is. We're just not making them. Going into last night, I think we were No. 1 in the league in assists. We're not shooting the ball very well. That's going to come around. We've just got to make sure we're continually taking good shots, the right shots."

With Love and Mike Miller joining Foye and McCants, outside shooting was supposed to be a strength this season, giving the Wolves options to make opponents pay for double-teaming Al Jefferson.

It hasn't worked out that way, and Wittman said poor shot selection is the primary reason.

"As I told our guys today, you've got to have a feel of where you're at," he said. "It's almost like the baseball hitter that's in a hitting slump. Does he go up to the plate trying to hit a home run or just get his bat on the ball? Try to get a bloop single. ... Sometimes we continue to try to hit the home run. Kevin Love taking three threes and he's struggling to make a 15-footer. We've got to be more mentally understanding of that."

The problems were magnified against the Celtics, and the Wolves face another playoff-hardened bunch tonight when they take on Detroit and new point guard Allen Iverson in Auburn Hills, Mich.

Wittman said that makes this another good test for the Wolves, who despite their shooting problems trailed Boston by just eight points with less than four minutes to go in the third.

"It could become another ugly game," he said. "What you have to do (is learn) to win those ugly games. I felt we didn't get to the free-throw line, force (ourselves) to get other scoring opportunities. That was as bad a shooting performance as you could probably have, hopefully."