Unless the Milwaukee Bucks make an improbable run at the NBA title, the Gary Payton-Sam Cassell experiment probably will last only a couple of months.

	Sam Cassell, top, and Gary Payton worked well together in their first game, a 93-90 victory at Portland.

For now, all parties involved are relishing Milwaukee's sudden overabundance of point guards following the acquisition of Gary Payton last week. The Bucks also received Desmond Mason in the trade and sent Ray Allen, Kevin Ollie, Ronald Murray and a conditional first-round draft choice to the SuperSonics.

Incumbent Sam Cassell has embraced Payton, a nine-time All-Star who played for Bucks coach George Karl in Seattle from 1991-98.

''We don't consider each other point guards, we consider each other guards right now,'' Cassell said. ''This is the new age of Walt Frazier and Earl Monroe. It's Gary Payton and Sam Cassell now.''

Even if it is just for a while.

The Bucks lost to the Minnesota Timberwolves 117-114 Monday night in the Bradley Center, Milwaukee's first home game since the trade last Thursday. Payton had 21 points and nine assists, and Cassell had 18 and seven.

Payton and Cassell were in the same lineup often during their first game together, a 93-90 victory at Portland on Saturday night, when they combined for 38 points and 17 assists.

''I didn't see a problem between Gary and Sam in Portland,'' Mason said. ''And I think they'll be something special together.''

Karl said, ''Sam is handling it great,'' and he plans to put both point guards on the floor at the same time frequently.

''I think there's a lot of 'overstructure' in basketball. It's best when it's simple,'' Karl said after the shootaround Monday. ''Gary and Sam are both very talented point guards, and both of them probably could be very talented off guards.''

	“	It's different. Once one of us gets the ball, the other one runs. You can't guard two big point guards. We're going to look for each other and get everybody wide-open shots. And that's what we did in Portland. ”
		— Gary Payton, on teaming with Sam Cassell

Payton isn't complaining about the unusual setup, either.

''It's different. Once one of us gets the ball, the other one runs. You can't guard two big point guards,'' he said. ''We're going to look for each other and get everybody wide-open shots. And that's what we did in Portland.''

Payton said he knew the arrangement could work right away.

''I never thought it was going to be a controversy between me and Sam. We want to win, we're veterans and we're both coaches on the floor,'' Payton said. ''We're going to be a two-headed monster.''

Payton's contract expires at the end of the season, and the Bucks would like to re-sign him and turn the short-term experiment into something more, but that will depend largely on how far they go in the playoffs. They're currently in seventh place in the Eastern Conference.

''Getting a chance to get back into the playoffs is great, and I think me and Sam playing together is going to be a great combination. Hopefully we can get a little higher seed and try to make a run at this East,'' Payton said.

He won't commit to anything about 2003-04, except to say that if he gets a ring, it would be difficult to walk away. That might help override the lifestyle issue of living in the Midwest.

''My kids have to be comfortable, and my wife has to be comfortable,'' he said.

Payton is enjoying playing for Karl again.

''When we first met, we both had egos. We clashed. We're cocky people. But the relationship got better, and we found out we were like each other,'' Payton said. ''We put our egos to the side because we both wanted to win. He's like a father figure to me.''

Karl echoed Payton's feelings about the relationship.

''We went through a stage early in our careers that was hellish,'' Karl said. ''And then we had a good stage, and now hopefully we'll have a special stage.''