MINNEAPOLIS — With 37 seconds left in the Timberwolves' 87-79 victory over San Antonio on Friday, the hosts clustered together during a Spurs' timeout. It was one part celebration, one part lesson on how to close out a game that had already been won, and amid hugs and high fives, Martell Webster was yelling a bit of advice.
Webster, who missed the team's first 18 games after offseason back surgery, returned to action Friday night, playing just six minutes and sinking a three. But now that he's healthy, Webster isn't giving up the role that's he's developed from the bench this season.
"If you ever see anything, the worst thing you can do is close your mouth," Webster said. "You should speak up. That's what I took upon myself this year to do. If I ever see anything, any mismatches, or if I feel a guy isn't out there playing hard, I'm going to let him know."
And even in his uniform, he continued to watch and to talk. Because Webster, one of two players suffering longer-term injuries who returned Friday night, knows his transition will be gradual, and he's okay with it.
Along with players like Luke Ridnour and Wes Johnson who have missed minimal time this week, small forward Michael Beasley took the court for the first time since January 6. Normally a starter, he came off the bench in the first quarter, jogging onto the court with a look that's signature Beasley: a grimace of aggression and near-anger, his equivalent of a smile. But even he was limited to 22 minutes, scoring seven points and notching four rebounds.
Ten points between the two might not seem like much, but for this Timberwolves team it speaks volumes. It's 10 fewer points for which tired starters have to be responsible, a few extra minutes for others to catch their breath.
"It was good to get those guys back," coach Rick Adelman said. "It gives us a lot of options. Both have been out a while, so they're probably a little bit rusty, but it gave us some options to go with different people."
In fact, the influx of players was nearly daunting for Adelman on Friday night, a surplus of help for a coach who's made playing short-handed a repeated element of his game plan. On Friday afternoon, the coach called Webster into his office and explained to him that his minutes would be limited. Having never even coached Webster in a scrimmage, putting him in a game was obviously an experience in flying blind for Adelman, and he made that known. Phasing him in would be a project, and the coach had no clue that so many banged-up players would be returning on the same night.
"We haven't scrimmaged with him," Adelman said of Webster. "We haven't done anything. So to work these guys in, they're going to have to have some patience."
Friday night provided a glimpse of what a full-strength Timberwolves team might look like, the first such display in several weeks. And though the team is still missing J.J. Barea, Brad Miller and Malcolm Lee, the group that took the floor against the Spurs proved that this year's Timberwolves have the ability to provide a dynamic attack.
For the 18th time this season, Kevin Love finished with a double-double, and Ricky Rubio was stellar both shooting and on defense. But perhaps the most dominant and surprising player was backup center Nikola Pekovic, who started in place of a sick Darko Milicic. Pekovic had just the second double-double of his career, finishing with 14 points and 10 rebounds. He contained Tim Duncan and was a constant presence under the basket, dogging the Spurs at every turn.
"Awesome, awesome, awesome," Love said of Pekovic. "Every time, he doesn't know anything else but to go hard. We're happy to have the Eastern bloc on our side."
Until now, the story of this year's Timberwolves' season has been a two part narrative of Love and Rubio. It's been a narrative of double-doubles and shooting, of crafty passing and defying expectations. But it's yielded a sub-.500 record, an improvement that's not yet a transition. In order to make that transition to a contender — or, thinking more realistically, a team with a winning record — the story needs to be bigger. There need to be backups and relief, defined roles for more than just the five players who take the court at the beginning of games. The process of building that kind of team, one that has a system that runs smoothly and the ability to adapt, began on Friday night, but it's far from finished.
"We have to keep that poise moving forward, and if we can do that, we're just making big steps in the right direction," Love said.
A lesser coach than Adelman might not have felt so overwhelmed by the influx of players. He might have simply felt relief at a more complete lineup. But 24 years into his coaching career, Adelman knows better. Especially with a team like these Timberwolves, it's a gradual process, of experimenting and redefining, of assuming nothing.
And though caution yielded fewer points from returning players tonight, it might also have preserved the win.
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