Minnesota Timberwolves center Nikola Pekovic returned after missing 31 games because of a sore ankle to score 14 points in 23 minutes off the bench.
Pekovic was sidelined with chronic pain in his ankle in November and spent the next two months consulting with doctors at the Mayo Clinic in hopes of finding a treatment for an injury that has plagued him for much of his career. But he was sharp in his return, going 5 for 11 with four rebounds.
"I'm not really able to do what I really can do," Pekovic said. "But still, it was OK for the first game. I didn't die over there."