Rashad McCants’ back spasms have subsided, but his playing time hasn’t recovered yet from his absence. McCants didn’t get off the bench in Oklahoma City on Friday, and Wittman didn’t exactly guarantee that the fourth-year guard would remain a major part of his rotation.
“He’s just got to stay ready. Tonight could be completely different,” the coach said. “Today’s a different day.”
McCants played 10 minutes on Wednesday against the Suns, yet took six three-pointers in that short stint (and made four), and turned the ball over five times. So perhaps it was no coincidence that McCants, who averaged 21.4 minutes through Minnesota’s first seven games, didn’t get off the bench on Friday.
I talked with the rookie before the game for an early notebook I had to file for Sunday’s paper. Love seemed kind of down. He admitted that the first 14 games of his pro career weren’t the greatest and that he is just hoping to learn as much as he can every day. This was about an hour before tip, and already Love seemed to be a little beaten up. Emotionally, anyway. Well – maybe he was destined to turn it around. Nothing seemed to affect him once the game got going. He earned his first career double-double against the Nuggets, playing a particularly sound first half.
“Making progress,” Wittman said, continuing to nod. “He’s had a tough streak of getting easy baskets go in, which is sometimes hard to handle. But I think he’s fighting through that. He’s doing all the other things.”
Love has come off the Wolves bench in seven consecutive games after starting the previous four. He scored nine points on 4-for-7 shooting Friday night in Oklahoma City but scored only five points on 0-for-5 shooting in the two games before that.
“Just OK,” Love said of his NBA career so far…
Minnesota, meanwhile, is back home less than 24 hours after Mike Miller’s last nanosecond shot assured the Wolves a victory in Oklahoma City. Fun fact about Miller’s shot: In 20 seasons, the Wolves have now won 20 times thanks to a shot in the final second. Kevin Garnett did it four times. Sam Mitchell and the late Malik Sealy are the only other players to do this more than once for the Wolves.