Timberwolves coach Rick Adelman knew something was wrong when backup point guard J.J. Barea chased a loose ball into the scorer's table late in Wednesday's victory over Orlando and walked away with an injured foot that will keep him out of at least two weekend games.
"I know he was very upset, called his own timeout and left," Adelman said. "He just walked by me. I guess he was done for the night. He said something about hurting his foot and left."
Barea walked straight into a two-game absence that started with Friday's home game against Indiana and will continue Saturday at Chicago.
Adelman said Barea will be evaluated again Sunday to see if he's ready to meet the team in Dallas for a Monday night game against the Mavericks, the team with which he won an NBA title in 2011.
Barea's sprained foot came three nights after was hit hard in the head on a drive to the basket against Toronto. Barea missed 25 games in last season's shortened 66-game schedule because of hamstring and ankle injuries.
"Everybody has to do a little more," Adelman said. "Seems like we just have a tendency to get injuries like this, J.J. especially. In the last year, he has just had all these little injuries that put him back. He was playing so well, too. He had a lot of confidence. He knew what he wanted to do. We felt real good about Luke [Ridnour] and him.
"It's just one of those things you hope he gets better within a week and he'll be back."
Backcourt Plan B Adelman said he will go with point guards Will Conroy and Malcolm Lee backing up Ridnour because he wants rookie Alexey Shved to focus on playing the shooting guard spot.