Greetings from Target Center, where the Wolves will tip off with Miami in about an hour.
Here are some pre-game notes:
--Coach Flip Saunders said Ricky Rubio came out OK from his first action Monday in Dallas. He was asked why he took Rubio out near the end of the game. It wasn't just a minutes-limit thing:
"He was favoring (his left ankle) a little bit down the stretch," Saunders said. "So I didn't want to do anything. When you're coming back, and you're rehabbing, and it's a little bit weak, you don't want to take a chance. But he seemed OK.''
Rubio will again be held to a minute limit of between 20 and 22 minutes, Saunders said.
--Center Nikola Pekovic has been experiencing more ankle soreness of late. So Saunders said the team needs to do a better job of monitoring Pek's minutes. Saunders said he'd even consider not playing Pekovic on the back end of back-to-back games.
--Zach LaVine, who has missed two games with a twisted left ankle, is available to play tonight. But Saunders said he will avoid playing the rookie if he can help it, so that ankle has a little bit more time to heal.
--Saunders is hoping Shabazz Muhammad, who will miss his 14th game tonight because of an oblique muscle strain, could return either Friday or Sunday.
