Wolves Wednesday: Rick Adelman, Doc Rivers trade barbs before game

MINNEAPOLIS -- For Rick Adelman, nine days seems like a long time ago.

Since his team first met the mighty Los Angeles Clippers this season, it has played four games -- plenty of time to move past two errant, last-second attempts by Nikola Pekovic and Kevin Love in a 109-107 loss.

"What happened? Oh, we beat the Lakers," Adelman said, tongue-in-cheek, in reference to his team's blowout win the day before the first Clippers game.

But mention that crazy moment when Los Angeles coach Doc Rivers ran halfway across the Staples Center court to call a timeout, and Minnesota's coach is suddenly a little more wont to revert back to Nov. 11.

"I could not believe they allowed that to go on," Adelman said of Rivers' 25-foot sprint toward the opposite sideline with 11.8 seconds left. "You can’t do that."

Rivers, who also spoke with reporters before the teams squared off Wednesday night in Minneapolis, maintains he had every right to get the nearest official's attention when he realized the play he had Chris Paul about to run wasn't going to work. The refs' eyes were focused on the play, Rivers said, so he had no choice but to get within earshot.

Even if that meant trotting far away from his own bench.

"There should be no tech called on that, by the way," said Rivers, who's in charge of the NBA's highest-scoring team at the moment. "The worst that can be called is delay of game. But as long as you don’t run into anybody or touch anybody -- there is no other way around it, unless you guys have a suggestion. Maybe give me a red button I can push. That would be terrific."

But, Rivers conceded, he'd have been just as frustrated as Adelman was should their roles have been reversed.

"If it had been Rick," Rivers said with a grin, "I’d have wanted him thrown out of the game. But me, I think I should be able to do it."

The timeout was awarded -- with no repercussions for Rivers -- and allowed Los Angeles to draw up a new play. Blake Griffin missed a potentially game-icing layup, but Pekovic and Love putbacks fell off the rim at the other end.

Nine days later, Adelman said he has no plans to traverse half the width of the Target Center floor should the need arise.

"I think that's reserved for certain people," Adelman cracked. "He's got a lot more money than I do, so he didn’t care if he got a technical."

Muhammad out again: Rookie Timberwolves forward Shabazz Muhammad missed his fourth straight game with a right ankle sprain. He suffered the injury while playing late in last week's blowout win against Cleveland.

Clippers small forward Matt Barnes didn't make the trip to the Twin Cities after taking an elbow from Zach Randolph in Los Angeles' loss to the Grizzlies on Tuesday.

Minnesota's Chase Budinger (left-knee meniscus surgery) and Ronny Turiaf (right elbow fracture) remain out indefinitely.

Sixers sign Brown: The Philadelphia 76ers announced Wednesday they've signed Timberwolves second-round draft pick Lorenzo Brown.

Minnesota selected the former North Carolina State point guard 52nd overall this summer but waived him in favor of veteran training-camp invitee A.J. Price. Brown originally signed on with the Iowa Energy -- Minnesota's NBA Developmental League affiliate, though he was there as a free agent -- but was traded to the Springfield Armor during the first week of the NBA season.

The Sixers waived Kwame Brown and Darius Morris to make room for Brown and fellow free-agent guard Elliot Williams.

Value buy: According to an article published on Forbes' website, the Timberwolves lead the NBA in ticket value.

Minnesota's average single-game ticket price of $73 ranks 47 percent below the league average. That, combined with the Timberwolves' 7-5 start and household names like Kevin Love and Ricky Rubio, puts them on par with the Spurs and Pacers for admission affordability combined with gameday experience, according to the article.

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