Wolves coach Tom Thibodeau seemed to be in a good mood after shootaround this morning. This could be the reason: Jimmy Butler, listed as questionable with back spasms, was able to take full part in the morning workout. It appears Butler will be able to play tonight against Portland at Target Center.
"We'll see how he feels tonight,'' Thibodeau said.
If he's able to go, it doesn't appear Butler will be under any sort of minutes restriction. Butler dealt with the sore back in the second half of Saturday's home loss to Phoenix, at one point leaving the bench to get treatment in the locker room. "Basically it locked up,'' Thibodeau said. "It wasn't spasms. So, and now it's loosened up for him. We'll see if he's fine tonight. He went through shootaround, and he's feeling a lot better.''
Butler returned to play the final 10-plus minutes of the game, but he was clearly playing in pain.
"That's who he is,'' Thibodeau said. "He's always played through things. He's a tough guy, tough minded.''
Butler returned quickly from a nasty upper respiratory infection that knocked him out for two games early in the season. And he played through a badly sprained finger on his left (non-shooting) hand sustained in Memphis Dec. 4.
A couple other notes from morning access:
The Wolves' recent trouble with fouling jump shooters has Thibodeau concerned heading into tonight's game with the Blazers. Portland's backcourt of C.J. McCollum and Damian Lillard is a potent one. Lillard enters the game seventh in the league with 204 free throw attempts in 29 games. "Lillard is a guy who is real crafty,'' Thibodeau said. "It puts a lot of pressure on you. You have to be disciplined. They know how to draw fouls. That is a concern.''
