Kevin Martin probably will be allowed to get on an exercise bike next week, when the stitches are removed from his right wrist. That doesn't mean the Timberwolves guard is going to do it.

"With the holidays coming up, there's no reason to get me on a bike right now,'' Martin said, laughing. "Because I'm going to get out of shape real quick.''

Martin was in an upbeat mood Friday morning, when he spoke to the media for the first time since he had surgery to repair the wrist he broke Nov. 19. He said it feels fine, and a medical check Friday revealed it is healing well. Still, Martin said, his recovery will be "a slow process,'' and he won't be returning to the lineup soon.

Since the injury, Martin's exercise has been limited to walking around the gym. He went through a similar situation in 2009, when he broke the navicular bone in his left wrist — the same bone, he said, that broke in the right wrist this time. But his current injury is to his shooting hand, making it a little more worrisome.

"It's going to be interesting to see how this plays along,'' said Martin, who scored 37 points and played 35 minutes the night he broke the wrist in a victory over New York. "I do remember [with] my left, there was a lot of soreness. But with the right, it's going to be a little tougher rehab. I'll have to put in a lot more time with this one.''

Martin initially thought the injury, which happened in the first quarter of a 115-99 victory, was only a sprain. He said the only indication it might be more serious came at the free-throw line, when he missed four of six attempts — about the same number, he added, that he normally would miss in two months.

Now that Martin has returned to the team, he wants to hang around as much as possible and provide whatever leadership he can. Already, he is giving counsel to the young players whose development has been drastically accelerated because of the Wolves' depleted roster. Martin met with rookie forward Andrew Wiggins on Friday morning and urged him to be aggressive, saying he would rather see him go 3-for-20 than 4-for-8.

He also told the youngsters to keep calm, press on and make the most of their expanded minutes and roles. While he added that this season of struggle isn't likely to be the low point of their careers, he knows how deflating the decimated roster has been.

"I think any time you lose your top three players, it kills the whole vibe,'' he said. "It kills the team. At the end of the day, talent wins. I don't care how much rah-rah you have, talent and hard work wins.''

Tightening up

Houston entered Friday's game with one of the NBA's top defenses. The Rockets were tied for second in the NBA in defensive rating, allowing 96.3 points per 100 possessions. They also were third in the league in steals per game (9.4).

Coach Kevin McHale said he sat down with his staff at the end of last season and made plans to improve his team's defense. He lauded assistant coach J.B. Bickerstaff — who served on the staffs of the Timberwolves and Gophers — for his role in the overhaul.

"J.B. has done a great job of implementing all the stuff we talked about,'' McHale said. "And the players bought in and worked really hard at it.''

No Mo

Mo Williams (back spasms) did not play, and he will not travel to San Antonio for Saturday's game. Wolves coach Flip Saunders said he doesn't know how long Williams might be out.

"The way his back is, if we took him on the trip, it would not react well,'' Saunders said. "We've got to try to get that under control as much as we can.''