HOUSTON – Timberwolves forward Jaden McDaniels is set to be re-evaluated Monday in his recovery from a high left ankle sprain suffered on March 14.
Coach Chris Finch added McDaniels "looks really good right now in the things that he's been doing" to rehabilitate the injury.
McDaniels has been participating in the Wolves' so-called "stay in shape league," which are scrimmages between staff and the end-of-bench reserves at the end of practices and shootarounds. Injured players also sometimes participate in them before making their return to game action.
"He's looked really good. We'll have to see what [Monday] brings," Finch said.
Finch said McDaniels will likely be on some sort of minutes restriction upon his return, but that's not of much concern to Finch.
"He doesn't have the type of game where you need to play him a certain rhythm of minutes," Finch said. "You can leave him out there for long runs, or you can break him up into smaller runs. He finds a way to impact the game."
McDaniels was playing some of his best basketball of the season before suffering the injury. His defensive skills are always welcome and he was expanding his offensive game with more cutting and more drives to the basket.
"We certainly miss him," Finch said. "We miss his defensive presence and we miss his cutting and he finds a way to get baskets just in the flow of the game. That's huge for us."
Patrick Beverley was a late scratch Sunday because of right ankle soreness. Finch said Beverley took a lot of "lumps" in Friday's game.
Transition in transition
Against Denver, the Wolves had 30 points off 18 turnovers. The game before they had just 18 points off 19 Toronto turnovers. The Wolves force the most turnovers in the league per game with 16.3 and they do generate the most points off those turnovers with 19.6, but Finch would like them to be better than that.
Their game in Toronto featured a lot of turnovers in transition after they got the Raptors to turn the ball over.
"We could be way better in transition," Finch said. "Our efficiency in transition is not great. We turn it over a lot in transition. We just kind of get a little sloppy. Cost us some opportunities there. It's something we spent a lot of time watching tape recently on."
Vanderbilt's birthday
Sometimes the schedule aligns just right. In the case of Wolves forward Jarred Vanderbilt, he got to spend his 23rd birthday Sunday in his hometown of Houston. Vanderbilt was able to spend time with family on the Wolves' off-day Saturday.
Vanderbilt had a career high on his previous visit home when he scored 21 points in a game Jan. 9.
Before scoring just four points against Denver on Friday, Vanderbilt had four straight games in double figures, a career high.
"Just trying to find my way through the offense and just finishing around the rim when I can," Vanderbilt said. "I can still do a better job of finishing some of those plays. Just trying to become more of an offensive threat."
Etc.
The NBA announced that the Wolves' final game of the season next Sunday at home against Chicago will be played at 7:30 p.m.
