PHOENIX – Taj Gibson didn't play for the Timberwolves on Saturday night, as he left the team to deal with a personal matter.
But Gibson's shouldn't be out long, with coach Tom Thibodeau saying Gibson should play in Monday's home game against Sacramento.
His absence Saturday created a vacuum at power forward for the Wolves and meant Dario Saric made his first start since joining the Wolves from Philadelphia. Of late, Saric has been playing more minutes than Gibson even though Gibson is starting. In each of the Wolves' two games before Saturday, Saric logged 31 minutes to Gibson's 17. Saric said he was going to alter his pregame routine since he was in the starting lineup.
"I'll go a little bit harder in warmup, try to take a few more shots and try to get the body temperature right to play," Saric said.
Saric joining the starting lineup meant another player was going to get his minutes in reserve and Thibodeau said at shoot-around that player was likely to be Anthony Tolliver. Before Saturday, Tolliver had not played in 11 of the 15 games since the trade, logging just 23 minutes, 28 seconds of game time since.
"It's the toughest job in the NBA, I say that all the time, being a role player in the NBA," Tolliver said. "It has a lot of ups and downs, and so you just have to stay even keel, stay ready and continue to work."
Tolliver said he was cognizant of the fact that others might be monitoring how he handles himself when he wasn't playing, and that list of people goes beyond his teammates.
"People are always watching, not just players but other teams and other coaches and everybody that's around you," Tolliver said. "They're always watching. You just always have to be mindful of the energy you put out there whether it be on the bench or in the locker room or wherever you're at."
