4:26PHOENIX – Three weeks after he hoped to be back, Timberwolves center Nikola Pekovic remains out because of bursitis in his right ankle that caused him to miss his 13th consecutive game Tuesday.
Injured teammate Kevin Martin (thumb) remained out, too, while the Wolves played the third game on a five-game Western road trip in pursuit of the Western Conference's eighth and final playoff spot, beating the Suns 110-101.
Wolves coaches and training staff worked out Pekovic hard at Arizona State on Monday — an off-day for the rest of the team — and he tested the ankle before Tuesday's game and wasn't ready to play yet.
He left a Jan. 27 game at Chicago after only six minutes, and the next day the team announced he would be miss the next seven to 10 days, after which his bursitis would be re-evaluated.
"It's just tough, going through all this stuff, trying to make it better," Pekovic said. "I try to work really hard and I can't really play. All of a sudden, you feel pain and sometimes you don't feel pain. Sometimes I don't know what's really right or what's not. It was supposed to be like seven to 10 days and it has been like four weeks. It's one of those things that is really frustrating. I really want to play."
Pekovic had double-double games in points and rebounds in three of the past four times he played the Suns.
The Wolves also continue to play without backup center Ronny Turiaf, who last week suffered a knee bone bruise expected to sideline him at least three weeks. They list both centers as out indefinitely.
"I still can't really promise anything," Pekovic said Tuesday morning when he still hoped he would play that night. "I wish I could tell you 100 percent, but I don't know."
