NEW ORLEANS – One night after declining to answer questions about a stinging home loss to Washington, Timberwolves guard Jimmy Butler granted a reporter two questions regarding Wednesday's opportunistic 120-102 victory at New Orleans.
One of the two was about teammate Tyus Jones and the past four games he has played since Achilles' tendon soreness sidelined starting point guard Jeff Teague.
"I like that question," Butler said.
Jones started his third consecutive game for Teague — the first three starts of his NBA career — against the Pelicans. He delivered a 16-point, six-assist, four-steal, 41½-minute performance against New Orleans, which played without superstar power forward Anthony Davis after he drew two technical fouls and was ejected late in the first half.
Jones hit a three-pointer and a floating layup that turned into a three-point play that provided six unanswered points and pushed the Pelicans away after they had cut a 20-point lead to 10 at 98-88 with eight minutes remaining.
"I've always liked Tyus," Butler said. "I've been a fan of his since I got here. He's constantly working to do whatever the team needs him to do. He's always watching film on how he can better and he listens. He wants to do great for this organization and this team. Tyus is huge for us, and pretty soon it's going to be hard to take him off the floor."
Teague could return ready to play as soon as Friday's game at Oklahoma City, as could reserve forward Nemanja Bjelica (midfoot sprain).
While Teague has been out, Jones averaged 11.3 points on 53.3 percent shooting, 6.5 assists, 4.5 rebounds, 4.0 steals and 38.3 minutes in those four games.