Timberwolves to be without three starters against Knicks
The Minnesota Timberwolves will be without three starters for Wednesday’s home game against the New York Knicks, reports The Minneapolis Star-Tribune.
Center Nikola Pekovic, forward Thaddeus Young and point guard Ricky Rubio won’t suit up against New York.
Pekovic injured his ankle last Saturday in a loss to the Dallas Mavericks and will miss at least the next three games, Timberwolves coach Flip Saunders told the Star-Tribune. Pekovic will be re-evaluated next week, missing games against New York, the San Antonio Spurs and Sacramento Kings.
Young, who is averaging 14.3 points and five rebounds a game, is away from the team and is expected to miss three games after his mother’s death. Rubio is still on crutches and out indefinitely after suffering a severely sprained ankle two weeks ago.
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Pekovic is averaging 11.9 points and a team-leading 8.1 rebounds in nine games this season for Minnesota (2-7), which has the Western Conference’s second-worst record.
The team will start rookies Andrew Wiggins and Zach LaVine along with Anthony Bennett, Gorgui Dieng and veteran Kevin Martin.
"We'll be a little undermanned, but we'll be ready to go," Saunders said, according to the Star-Tribune. "No one got hurt today, so that's a positive."
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