The Wolves held Parker to one point in the first three quarters and played the four-time NBA champions even for a half.

In the end, though, San Antonio still had more than enough firepower to give Minnesota its eighth consecutive loss and drop the Wolves to 0-3 under McHale and 4-18 overall with a 98-86 victory in front of 15,336 at Target Center.

The Spurs outscored the Wolves 25-16 in the third quarter, and Parker erupted for 16 points in the fourth as San Antonio (14-8) won its season-high fifth consecutive game and seventh in a row against Minnesota.

McHale wasn't happy with all the easy layups the Wolves missed, but he was more upset about the ensuing mental breakdowns.

"The disheartening thing is when we miss them, it just deflates us," he said. "We've got to be stronger than that. I know part of that is being young guys and stuff like that, but still that's got to stop. You can't allow some misfortune on the offensive end to allow you to give in on the defensive end. That's unacceptable."

Asked how a coach goes about instilling that in his players, McHale, who replaced the fired Randy Wittman on Monday, said it comes down to practice.

Wolves shooting guard Mike Miller, who scored just three points in nearly 33 minutes in his return from a sprained right ankle, said that's something this team desperately needs.

"We definitely need a practice," he said. "We haven't had time to go under Mac yet. It's hard for him. It's putting him in a tough spot. He's trying to coach a group of guys, and he's had one practice and two shootarounds."

Things looked pretty good for the Wolves in the first half, which ended in a 41-41 tie.

Then the Spurs took charge in the third quarter, as Tim Duncan scored eight of his 17 points and Manu Ginobili hit for seven of his 16.

The Wolves, meanwhile, couldn't hit much of anything, shooting 27.3 percent (6 of 22) during a period that left McHale scratching his head.

"I think you've always got to give the other team some credit when you don't play well offensively," he said. "But these are professional athletes. It's just a bizarre thing."

In addition to Miller (1 for 5), rookie Kevin Love went 2 for 8 and Rashad McCants 3 for 13 for the Wolves, who unofficially missed 10 layups and had eight blocked.

The Spurs shot just 46.8 percent for the game, but they hit 8 of 18 (44.4 percent) from three-point range, many of them on wide-open shots from the corners.

McHale, asked if it was the Wolves' plan to concede those shots, said definitely not.

"We did (concede them)," he said. "Believe me, that was not the plan."

In addition to his 17 points, Duncan had 13 rebounds for San Antonio, which got a big boost off the bench from Ginobili, who missed last month's 129-125 double-overtime Spurs victory at Target Center while recovering from an ankle injury.

Parker didn't come close to equaling his career night, but he was strong at the finish Friday.

"I was trying to not think about it too much," he said. "So that's why in the first half I was trying to get everybody involved and make sure I am not forcing it. I was expecting good defense from them. In the second half, I tried to be aggressive and finish them off."

Al Jefferson had 29 points and 13 rebounds for the Wolves, and Randy Foye added 19 points, but they didn't get much support against a veteran San Antonio team that made Minnesota's best scorers work for every shot.

"The Spurs are a championship-mettle team," McHale said. "They're smart. They suck off of guys they should and don't suck off of the guys they shouldn't."

The Wolves, who haven't won since a 105-103 victory at Oklahoma City on Nov. 28, are on the road for their next two games: Sunday against the Lakers in Los Angeles and Monday at Sacramento.