Jefferson is given family leave

Al Jefferson flew to Florida on Thursday morning, his mind on matters more important than an eight-game losing streak. The Wolves forward has been excused from the team's home game tonight against Dallas and Saturday's trip to Memphis to deal with a family member's illness.  

Jefferson will return to the 1-8 Wolves next week, the team announced.  

"He's got to take care of things, [and] we all just have to step up" in his absence, guard Jonny Flynn said. Replacing the sixth-year forward's team-high 15.1 points won't be easy, but "we've got Nathan Jawai, who's a pretty athletic post player. We've got Ryan Hollins and Oleksiy Pecherov, and those guys just have to combine to put up Al numbers as a tandem. It's a big test for them, but I have a lot of confidence."  

Jefferson's replacement in the starting lineup hasn't been decided, coach Kurt Rambis said.  

"We've played around with a couple of ideas. But this team, with our situation, we might change [the lineup] every game," Rambis said. "We'll address that tomorrow."  

PHIL MILLER