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MINNEAPOLIS — As devastating as it all was — the elbow to Kevin Love's head on Wednesday in Denver, the glazed look in his eyes afterward, what an injury like that means to the team — the Timberwolves were remarkably matter-of-fact Thursday evening.
With Love still en route to Minneapolis after spending the night in a Denver hospital, Timberwolves coach Rick Adelman and Love's teammates dealt with the aftermath of the power forward's concussion, which he suffered in the first quarter of Wednesday's 113-107 loss to Denver. Love was in the wrong place at the wrong time and took JaVale McGee's elbow directly in his temple, suffering a mild concussion and neck strain. He missed Thursday's game against the Clippers and is out indefinitely.
Adelman said he's unsure how much time Love will miss with the injury. He and his staff haven't seen Love since he left the court after the injury, and the Timberwolves' medical staff will need to evaluate him when he returns to the Twin Cities.
"With the situation we're in right now . . . if he's out five days, he's going to miss three or four games," Adelman said. "The season's pretty well gone by then anyway."
It would be easy for the team, which is on a seven-game skid, to feel sorry for itself, to look for blame after losing its star. But they're accustomed to this, to the injuries and setbacks that have marked the second half of their season. And so the Timberwolves are accepting it, trying to make the most of the hand they've been dealt. There's been a lot of that lately.
Michael Beasley, who was standing behind Love when he suffered the injury, said there was no reason to blame McGee, no reason for Denver's center to even apologize.
"Everybody that seen the play, everybody that watched it happen, knew that it was an accidental mistake," Beasley said.
But as calm as Beasley was about the incident by Thursday, he admitted that at the time, the situation was frightening. What was most devastating, Anthony Tolliver said, was the placement of McGee's elbow, which was near eye-level because of his 7-foot height.
"It wasn't as scary at first, but when he didn't get up, that's when you kind of knew he might not be playing for the rest of the game," Beasley said.
After Love returns to Minnesota, he'll have to undergo a battery of concussion tests that the NBA mandates. Now that he's been diagnosed with a concussion, he'll have to be cleared in consultation with Dr. Jeffrey Kutcher, director of the NBA's concussion program. To be cleared, Love will have to return to his symptom-free baseline, which was determined by a preseason test. He'll also have to go through a series of exertion tests while remaining symptom-free.
Right now, there's no way to pinpoint a time frame, and the concussion policy states that testing and evaluation will vary by situation. So until then, the Timberwolves will have to salvage whatever they can from this season, relying on role players to step up.
Until Love returns, rookie Derrick Williams will start in his place. Love has averaged 26 points and 13.3 rebounds for the Timberwolves this season, and his 39 minutes per game is the second-highest average in the league. Williams, by contrast, has averaged 9.2 points and 4.8 rebounds in 22 minutes. After tonight's game vs. the Clippers, the Timberwolves have six games remaining in 2012, against the Thunder, Pacers, Grizzlies, Pistons, Warriors and Nuggets. With a loss Thursday, Minnesota would be eliminated from the playoffs.
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