Mike Wells of the Pioneer Press reports that the Minnesota Timberwolves are trudging through a long list of injuries. Felipe Lopez was added to that list last night after spraining his knee in the Timberwolves 95-83 loss to the Celtics.

Lopez was the starting point guard for the Timberwolves last night because of injuries to Terrell Brandon, Troy Hudson and Randy Livingston. After Lopez collided with Boston’s Paul Pierce and was removed from the game with 6:04 left in the first quarter, it left the Wolves with a backcourt of rookies Marcus Taylor and Igor Rakocevic for most of the game. With Kendall Gill, who started at shooting guard, in foul trouble most the night, Taylor and Rakocevic often were in the backcourt together.

"I think when Felipe went down, it took a little bit of wind out of us because he had a great training camp," Wolves coach Flip Saunders said. "It made my stomach sick to see him go down; it took a lot of wind out of us. I thought we went through a stretch where we didn't compete as hard as we should have. Even though you miss a lot of guys and have a lot of injuries, you have an obligation to step on the floor and try to get better. I don't think we were committed to doing that."

The Wolves (3-2) already were without Troy Hudson (groin), Wally Szczerbiak (toe), Joe Smith (groin), Terrell Brandon (knee) and Randy Livingston (ankle). Anthony Peeler also missed Saturday's game because his fiancee's grandmother died.

"It's something we have to deal with," Garnett said. "Injuries are part of the game. We as players have to continue to play and try to adjust. Practice time is probably more crucial now."

Lopez was carried off the court by teammates Reggie Slater and Marc Jackson. He is scheduled to undergo a magnetic resonance imaging exam today in the Twin Cities. "He went down pretty hard," Saunders said. "We'll hold on to hope that it's nothing too serious. I wouldn't say we're real optimistic right now."

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Minnesota Timberwolves

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