National Basketball Association

Cunningham out sick for Timberwolves

Published Jan. 20, 2013 12:53 a.m. ET

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Minnesota forward Dante Cunningham was scratched from the game against Houston on Saturday night with an illness, leaving Minnesota with nine healthy players for the game.

Cunningham is averaging 7.4 points and 5.5 rebounds per game this season, serving as a valuable role player who has started and come off the bench. But he's the latest Wolves player to have to miss a game because of injury or illness for a team that can hardly afford anymore absences.

Kevin Love, Nikola Pekovic, Brandon Roy, Josh Howard, Chase Budinger and Malcolm Lee are all out with injuries.

Two of their healthy players for the Rockets game were signed to 10-day contracts on Saturday. French swingman Mickael Gelabale and D-League forward Chris Johnson joined the Timberwolves for the shootaround Saturday morning.