Porter and Rubio put issue behind them

Timberwolves coach Terry Porter and guard Ricky Rubio have talked. And there are no issues between the two. Indeed, listening to both after this morning's shootaround at the Verizon Center in Washington, D.C., it sounds like there was never really an issue to start with.

Rubio remained on the bench the entire fourth quarter of the Wolves' loss to Brooklyn Wednesday at Target Center. At one point he was at the scorer's table, ready to check back in. But, after J.J. Barea hit a three-pointer, Porter decided to go with Barea – who played the entire quarter -- and Rubio returned to the bench.

After the game, clearly frustrated with that decision, Rubio said he wanted to play and the he would talk to Porter about the decision.

But, Rubio said today, he had calmed down before that talk ever took place.

"Of course I was frustrated," he said. "I wanted to play. I always want to play. … But, actually, I didn't even need to talk (to Porter). The next day I realized that maybe I didn't deserve (to play) because J.J. was hitting the shots. And he's able to get hot at some point and get a lot of points."

Still, Rubio said, he apologized to Porter.

"Because it came up like I was saying something against him," Rubio said. "And I never went against him. It was something that I was against me, by myself, because I was frustrated with me. But it's something that doesn't have to be against him or against the team. We are here, we are a team and we always try to do the best for the team."

Barea, meanwhile, said he took no offense at Rubio's frustration. "I got no issue with him," Barea said. "He's a competitor just like me, and we all want to be in the game in the last minutes and try to help our team win. I have no problem with that. I'm fine with him. He's a competitor, he wants to win, and I want to win. Everybody wants to play at the end of the game and help the team. Especially now, with us losing some games, and everybody is a little tired of losing."

In other news from this morning:

--J.J. Barea was not surprised that Brooklyn guard C.J. Watson was warned by the league for violating the league's anti-flopping rules during Wednesday night's game with the Wolves. It came in the fourth quarter with more than 9 minutes left in the game, when Watson fell to the floor after a slight bump from Barea. Watson admitted the flop after the game. "He's a flopping guy, so I tried to give him a taste of his own medicine," Watson told the Nets' postgame television broadcast after the game. "I hope I don't get fined, though."

Because it was a first offense, he only got warned.

"It was a great defensive play," Barea said. "And the refs, they called the charge. But I knew he was going to get a warning after that one. Because I just got a fine. So he was going to get (a warning)."

"I'm finding out that everybody who has gotten (warned or fined) is in the same process," Barea said. "So it's a Players Association thing now."

--Porter said there might be a silver lining in Alexey Shved's ankle injury, which will keep him out of his fourth straight game tonight. Shved, a rookie from Russia, was showing signs of fatigue in the games before his injury. Porter said Shved might be able to take advantage of this down time to recharge a little bit.