Sunday, the day after Christmas, the Timberwolves reconvened for an afternoon practice, and the game of musical chairs continued.
In: Wolves coach Chris Finch said Patrick Beverley and Josh Okogie were back at practice. Meanwhile, the Wolves are expected to sign center Greg Monroe — who hasn't played in the NBA since the 2018-19 season — to a 10-day contract with back-to-back home games against Boston on Monday and New York on Tuesday looming.
Out: Both D'Angelo Russell and Naz Reid have entered the league's health and safety protocols after both played Thursday night at Utah. Russell entered the protocols earlier in the weekend. Reid was a Sunday addition. They join Karl-Anthony Towns, Taurean Prince, Jarred Vanderbilt, Anthony Edwards and McKinley Wright IV.
Out of the protocols, both Okogie and Beverley are listed as questionable because of "return to competition conditioning." Should Beverley be available, he would represent the only starter available to play against the Celtics.
"We get a couple guys back who can help our defense at the point of attack,'' Finch said. "We got tough matchups coming in here [Monday]. But the more of our guys we have, the better."
Still, Finch will have to continue mixing and matching.
"You know, the way we're approaching this is we wait and see what the morning brings all the time," he said. "Because even if we were to sit down and plan things out right now, if we overplanned it, we might have a different lineup or different roster combination tomorrow."
The signing of Monroe would give the Wolves at least one player with the size to work inside, something the team lacks with Towns, Reid and Vanderbilt — the team's best rebounder — all out. But it remains to be seen how much — or how effectively — the 6-11 Monroe will be having not appeared in an NBA game since he played in 43 games for three teams in 2018-19.
Finch said he was pleased with the way his healthy players performed in Thursday's loss in Salt Lake City, a game the Wolves played with Russell as the only available starter. Malik Beasley led all scorers, making 13 of 25 shots, including seven of 16 three-pointers, and scoring 33 points. He and fellow starters Russell (19), Reid (17), Jaden McDaniels (16) and Jake Layman (13) scored in double figures, as did Jaylen Nowell (10) off the bench.
"I was really proud of the way we played,'' Finch said. "Even when we got down, we came back each time against a really good team. We didn't make enough shots, or get enough stops, in the end of the game to win it. But we gave ourselves a good punter's chance."
Finch said missing so many players has prompted him to do some things schematically that he might not otherwise do, given the strengths and weaknesses of the players he has available.
The Celtics listed seven players as being in the league's health and safety protocols and out for Monday's game, including Dennis Schroder and Justin Jackson. But four of the team's top five scorers are available: Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Al Horford and Marcus Smart.
The Wolves had 11 players available to practice Sunday, including forward Chris Silva and guard Rayjon Tucker, players who have already been signed to 10-day contracts as the Wolves work through their COVID-19 issues.
So it will be another difficult assignment for the team on Monday.
"You have to be ready, no matter what," Beasley said. "You just have to do the best you can and stay as healthy as you can."
