MINNEAPOLIS -- When Thaddeus Young collapsed to the floor near halftime Saturday night against Chicago, he hardly looked like a man who'd be participating fully in an NBA practice less than 48 hours later.
But Young was back with the Timberwolves at the Target Center's Lifetime Fitness practice facility Monday afternoon and, after a little coercion, allowed to practice without any limitations. Coach and president of basketball operations Flip Saunders expects him to be ready for the Wolves' Wednesday night game at Brooklyn, the first in a six-game, 11-day road trip.
The team's No. 1 power forward took a Jimmy Butler elbow to his left temple chasing a loose ball late in the second quarter, went limp in midair and came crashing down in front of Minnesota's bench Saturday. Trainers examined him well into the halftime break before he walked back to the training room under his own power.
Young was diagnosed with a strained neck and experienced some minor back soreness Monday, but that's all.
"I told him he's never going to be an MMA fighter," Saunders said Monday. "He went down like a redwood out in California, that no one heard about. But he went down hard."
But Young was in good enough shape to watch from the training room the second half of a hard-fought, 106-105 defeat. He passed baseline concussion tests right away and again Sunday, Saunders said.
"They tried to hold me back a little bit, but I just went and kind of told them I'm fine, ready to practice, ready to get back into the full swing of things," Young said. "I went through practice, I was fine. Everything's good. I'm good to go."
Fellow trade get Anthony Bennett performed well in Young's stead Saturday, scoring 12 points on 6-of-7 shooting, pulling down five rebounds, and coming up with a key block of Pau Gasol late. Robbie Hummel got his first action of the season, too, and finished with five boards in 10:43.
Bennett's been resurgent so far in his second NBA season. After averaging 4.3 points and two rebounds as a rookie, the 2013 No. 1 overall draft pick has followed up a sturdy preseason by tallying 8.3 points per game on 63.2 percent shooting and 3.7 boards per contest.
But losing Young, his defense and experience for any amount of time would've hurt. He scored 26 and 19 points in Minnesota's first two games and had eight at the time of his exit Saturday.
"Any time somebody doesn't throw their arms up and act like they're flopping, it's always scary when somebody goes down like he did," shooting guard Kevin Martin said. "But he had a great practice today, and I'm sure he'll be ready by Wednesday."
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