He also has absolutely beamed after victories -- he grinned and clapped all the way to the locker room after a last-second victory at Utah nine days ago -- and often expresses his affection for the game he so loves by playfully rubbing rookie Kevin Love's head before a game or embracing Randy Foye in defeat afterward.

The few words he utters about his future lead you to believe there's no chance he'll return. His expressions and actions leave those who know him well certain he will.

"I don't know," he said when asked about his future. "I've got a lot of stuff I have to think about."

Taylor says he wants McHale to return -- and says he believes McHale will -- for a variety of reasons that bewilder fans clamoring to see McHale go.

Players tell Taylor they like playing for their new coach. The team's 10-2 start in January when star Al Jefferson was healthy has the owner curious what the future will look like when McHale has a full training camp behind him and a full roster beside him. And, of course, there's Taylor's longstanding loyalty to the man to whom entrusted his franchise shortly after buying the Wolves in 1994.

"I'm going to do something different at some point," said McHale, who likely will do some television commentary when that time comes. "I don't know when, but I will."

He says he tired of NBA travel about four years before he retired as a player in 1993 and prefers to retire for the night by 10:30 p.m., a bedtime coaching colleague Mike Dunleavy says he only sees when he's sick.

"I do enjoy the guys, I do enjoy the challenge because it's like a constant chess match," McHale said before a game at Golden State last week. "I like the practices and the games, which is a weird change because I hated practice when I played. Other than that, there's nothing about the lifestyle that I like. I know the people here will be disappointed to hear this, but if I never make it to Oakland again, I won't be crying."

So why would he return?

For the same reasons that have kept him in the game for the last 15 years.

The pay is good and his December job change left him in the rarest of positions, especially in this economy: He was demoted and received a hefty pay raise, commensurate with his well-paid peers. He decided to accept Taylor's request that he coach this time while at church one night and said the peaceful feeling he experienced convinced him to aid a collection of players he assembled who seemed lost under Wittman's direction.

The Wolves had lost five consecutive games before he took over and then lost eight more after he went to the bench. They then suddenly won 10 of their next 12. He often talked during those early weeks about walking by faith and not by sight.

"I thought this team was really fractured and really suffering when I took over, and I thought I could help," McHale said when asked if losing his old job and accepting a new one he didn't want has humbled him. "They needed a lot more loving than roughed up. ... The owner asked me and I said yes. That's what you do it for, the players."

MAVERICKS 96, WOLVES 94: At least the Timberwolves' last-gasp loss at Dallas on Monday night let them forget Saturday's dreadful home defeat to Phoenix. Fifty games after they blew a 29-point lead at American Airlines Center, the Wolves fell once again to Jason Terry and a Mavericks comeback.

This one was only a squandered five-point lead -- not a franchise record for both sides -- with fewer than three minutes left.

This time, Terry beat them with a delayed shot from the right corner with just two-tenths of a second left after the Wolves had the ball with the score tied and 24 seconds remaining and never got off a shot.

Two nights before, the Wolves trailed 31-8 after one quarter in another lousy home performance. On Monday, they came within a fraction of a second of their fourth consecutive road victory, only to allow Dallas a telling 11-4 run that finished the game.

Dirk Nowitzki led everybody with 34 points -- his 25th 30-point game this season -- and also made the defensive play of the night, sticking his hand out to stop Sebastian Telfair as he drove into three defenders toward the basket as the clock ticked away.

Erick Dampier was credited with the steal. Either way, the Mavs had the ball and, after a timeout, 2.7 seconds left. Terry needed just 2.5 seconds of that to get Telfair airborne with a pump fake and swish a jump shot that left the Wolves with just enough time to throw a desperate lob at the basket that fell away harmlessly.