by By Don Seeholzer dseeholzer@pioneerpress.com , St. Paul Pioneer Press

O'Neal, who did not play the night before at Oklahoma City, scored 18 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in 33-plus minute for the Suns.

"Shaq is a big dude," Wolves guard Randy Foye said. "Even though a lot of people say he's not the same anymore, when you go into that lane and see that big No. 32 coming across. . . . He's a presence in there, trust me."

Added forward Ryan Gomes: "He's a guy that clogs up the paint on both sides of the floor and that helps them out. When Shaq is in there, he's stationary, but he puts himself in the right position to make you think about taking a shot or passing instead."

O'Neal has averaged 19.0 points and 9.8 rebounds in the five games he has played on two days' rest this season, including Wednesday's, compared with averages of 6.7 and 5.0 rebounds when he plays on consecutive nights.

O'Neal said he got more aggressive in the second half and was just happy to get out of town with a win.

"This was just one of those days where we were just laying around all day," he said. "I actually walked to the arena because my legs were dead from lying around all day."

Domino effect: The Wolves did more than stabilize the center position when they inserted Jason Collins into the starting lineup for their Nov. 16 game at Denver.

The move also benefited the team's best player, Al Jefferson, allowing him to shift to his more natural position of power forward.

"It feels good to go back to the four and play my own position," Jefferson said. "Defensive purposes, it's helped me out a lot. If I make a mistake, I know he's got my back. ... The guy got to the NBA Finals two years in a row (with New Jersey). He knows what it takes to win."

Collins was averaging a modest 1.4 points and 2.4 rebounds in five games with the Wolves heading into Wednesday's contest, in which he had eight points and one rebound in 21 minutes, but coach Randy Wittman said the eight-year veteran has contributed in ways that go beyond the stat sheet.

"I like the kind of starts (we're getting)," Wittman said. "We're a little bit more solid defensively, I think, to start with."

In addition to Jefferson, the move to Collins allowed Gomes to shift from power to small forward, so the new lineup has worked well for everyone.Jefferson scored 28 points and Gomes 16 Wednesday.

Mixed returns: Guard Rashad McCants returned to action for the Wolves after missing the previous two games because of back spasms and hit 4 of 6 three-point shots for 12 points.

The bad news was turnovers: he had five in less than 10 1/2 minutes.

Briefly: The victory gave first-year Suns coach Terry Porter, who played for the Wolves from 1995-98, a 7-0 record against his former teams.

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