Staying healthy remains Flip Saunders' No. 1 goal

Perhaps the most interesting thing to come out of Wolves coach Flip Saunders's pre-game meeting with the media was his contention that he doesn't need to work too hard on rotations in the final three preseason games.

Saunders' stated plan when the seven-game preseason began was to use the first few games for individual evaluation, then spend the final games ironing out his rotations. But, as the preseason has gone on, Saunders has decided that keeping players healthy is the most important thing. That's why you might not see all the veterans play tonight vs. Indiana at Target Center or Wednesday in Milwaukee.

"My need is to get out [of the preseason] unscathed if we can," Saunders said. "We'll have lineups in there, but we're not going to see an extended lineup. I don't think we need to do that."

Why?

Well, Saunders said much of the chemistry that is necessary on the court is being built in practices.

But there is another thing. "We're trying to get our guys to play more conceptually than worry about who they're playing with.''

Here are some other pre-game nuggets:

"You can't make the team in a hot tub," Saunders said. "It's tough to get playing time from there. You have to go out and play. He's been diligent. He's worked hard, studied film. We'll see in the next few days if he's able to translate that and do it on the court.''

--Zach LaVine returns to regular minutes after sitting almost all of Sunday's game against Oklahoma City on the bench. This was by design. After a difficult game against Milwaukee two days prior, Saunders had LaVine sit on the bench next to assistant coaches Sidney Lowe and Ryan Saunders. They talked through what they were seeing, hoping to give LaVine a new perspective on the game.

"We wanted him to get a feel for how we look at the game as it is going on," Flip Sanders said. "What we're trying to do, how we're trying to play. … I thought, by the end of the fourth quarter, he was understanding more of what we're trying to accomplish.''