Barea's night ends with concussion after hard fall

TORONTO - Fearless Timberwolves point guard J.J. Barea doesn't remember much about the second-quarter play that knocked him out of Sunday night's game at Toronto.

But he does know one thing after he left the game because of what a team spokesman called "concussion-like symptoms."

"My face hurts," he said after a 105-86 loss in which his team already was without injured stars Kevin Love and Ricky Rubio.

"I got a couple cuts in my mouth, but other than that, I'm all right."

Actually, the NBA will determine that, perhaps as soon as Monday.

Barea must pass NBA tests that are part of the league's new concussion policy before he is cleared to play again. The Wolves face the Nets in Brooklyn on Monday night.

Barea took two tests Sunday night at Air Canada Centre.

Barea scored on a baseline drive in traffic. Television replays appeared to show his head hit teammate Dante Cunningham's leg, and then his head struck the floor after a collision that left him noticeably groggy as eventually he came to the bench.

"I've got to watch the play," he said. "It's bad luck. I made the shot and that was it, I was here [in the locker room]. I just woke up, talking to the doctor ...

"I was feeling good again [this season, before he hit his head]. Tomorrow, hopefully I'll be feeling better and ready to go."

Moral support Rubio and Love traveled with the team on this two-game trip that ends Monday in Brooklyn and are expected to continue to travel until each returns. They came back to the locker room side by side, drenched in sweat, after a vigorous pregame workout.

"They need to be around the team, I just think they can help our guys, talking to them," coach Rick Adelman said. "The more you're around the team, when they do come back, it's a seamless transition. We're trying to get this team together. The more they get used to each other, the better it's going to be."

Roy played less than 22 minutes Sunday, and not at all in the fourth quarter. He finished with just four points on 0-for-3 shooting with five turnovers and no assists.

"He knows how to play," Casey said. "He's one of those guys, he does it with his brain now rather than his athleticism. He's always been a floor-type player and he's even more now, knowing where to be, how to trick you."

Take the 'A' train Timberwolves assistant coach Bill Bayno always gets to the arena early to work with the team's young players. He hopes to take Derrick Williams and Malcolm Lee to Monday's game on the subway from Manhattan because he wants them to experience a vibrant part of life in the big city. He did the same thing with players when he coached at Kansas and Massachusetts.