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The Honolulu Advertiser
Updated at 1:00 p.m., Tuesday, March 10, 2009

NBA: T'Wolves' Foye to miss at least 1 game

By JON KRAWCZYNSKI
AP Sports Writer

MINNEAPOLIS — The Minnesota Timberwolves are adding injury to insult.

Guard Randy Foye watched Tuesday's practice with a walking boot on his sprained right ankle. The team's second-leading scorer will miss at least one game and probably more after being injured on Monday against Washington in the team's 10th consecutive loss.

The Timberwolves already are missing star center Al Jefferson and defensive standout Corey Brewer with torn knee ligaments. Forward Rodney Carney also missed practice on Tuesday with a bruised abdomen and is questionable for Wednesday night's game against Memphis.

"The training room was pretty full today," Foye said.

Foye was injured in the fourth quarter against the Wizards when he landed awkwardly after trying to catch a lob pass from Mike Miller. He came down on Washington point guard Javaris Crittenton's foot and his ankle bent severely as he crumpled to the court under the basket.

Play continued on the other end, and before Foye knew it, the Wolves were on another fast break, with rookie Kevin Love barreling toward him. Foye quickly slid himself out of bounds, but Minnesota called timeout before any more damage could be done.

"My first reaction was why did we throw that lob pass on a 2-on-1 break?" coach Kevin McHale said Tuesday. "My next reaction was, that (injury is) not good. Then my third reaction was, you better get out of the way because Kevin Love is lumbering for a dunk, but that didn't work out either."

The only thing that has been working consistently lately is the team's medical staff.

Jefferson, Minnesota's leading scorer and rebounder and the focal point of its offense, went down shortly before the All-Star break with a torn ACL. The Timberwolves are 1-12 without him and have lost 11 straight at home.

And now Foye, the team's de facto leader since Jefferson went down, and Carney are banged up.

"We're falling and falling fast," Miller said. "We've just got to continue to play hard. Like I said when Al went down and when Corey went down, nobody's going to feel sorry for us. We just have to go out there and play and try to win games, that's all you can do."

Just how long Foye will be out remains to be seen. He said he was in much less pain on Tuesday and there was minimal swelling in the joint.

"If it was up to me, I would try to play tomorrow," Foye said. "But they just told me to sit out a couple of days, 48 hours, and see how it feels."

With a record of 18-45, the Timberwolves are going nowhere this season. So the team could choose to be cautious with a player it feels is a building block for the future. Foye is averaging 16.9 points and 4.5 assists and is one of the few players on the team who can create his own shot on a consistent basis.

"As a team, we're all going to have to play a little different," point guard Sebastian Telfair said after the loss to the Wizards. "Foye brings something different to our offensive team that I really don't think any of us can really do. That's why he's a special player for us."

Much of the onus likely will fall on Miller, who came to the Twin Cities in a draft-night trade from Memphis with a reputation as one of the NBA's best shooters. But for reasons still not fully explained by Miller or the Timberwolves, he has seemed reluctant for most of the season to take open shots. Instead, he's tried to create more for his teammates.

"Yeah I've got to be a little bit more of a creator and a scorer," Miller said. "So we'll see what happens."

Miller is averaging a career-low 9.8 points per game. In his first eight seasons in the NBA with Orlando and Memphis, Miller averaged 11.5 shot attempts per game. Only once did his average dip below 10 per game, when it was 9.5 in 2003-04, a year in which he missed 17 games with a back problem.

He struggled with ankle injuries early in the season, but has been healthy for months — yet is averaging just 7.4 attempts per game.

"I'm sure with the way things are going now, he'll have to take some more shots," McHale said.