Pekovic emerging in low-post for Wolves

MINNEAPOLIS His size and strength lend themselves tonovelty, to funny clips on Jumbotrons and strange, ominous music played afterhe scores. The beard and the accent, the tattoos that give meaning to the term"body art" each add to the image.Seen only in glimpses, he was somewhat of an enigma. But in recent games,Nikola Pekovic has become something more than a caricature. On Tuesday night hewas the backbone of his team, the driving force behind the Timberwolves' 86-84victory over the Kings. Kevin Love served the first night of his two-game suspension, and Pekovic's23 points went a long way in filling the offensive void left by the starforward's absence. Not only did he lead the team in scoring, he also energizedit while his teammates lagged in the third quarter, scoring 12 of the team's 21points."He's staying within himself," Timberwolves' coach Rick Adelmansaid of Pekovic. "He knows what he can do. You know, he's so strong. He'sworked at his game, but now I think that he's been on the court enough thathe's relaxing, and he's just playing. It's fun to watch him play."The list of things Pekovic can do on the court has grown in recent games.His strength has never been a secret, but the center has shown that he's ascoring threat and surprisingly agile. He's also combatted the perception thathe's perennially in foul trouble, and he managed to draw fouls while guardingSacramento's DeMarcus Cousins on Tuesday.Pekovic knew about Cousins' big night on Monday, when the Kings big man finishedwith 28 points and 19 rebounds in Sacramentos come-from-behind victory in NewOrleans. Pekovic also knew that he wasn't going to let the Kings forwardreplicate that performance. On Tuesday, Pekovic limited Cousins to just 10points (and 11 rebounds).But perhaps the most memorable thing about Pekovic's night was his agility.He finished with three steals and 10 rebounds, and Adelman joked that theseven-footer would soon want to see minutes at guard. With more experience andconfidence, Pekovic has been able to test the limits of his game. He has yet tofind them."Some of those moves, I have never seen him do," Derrick Williamssaid of Pekovic. "It's just when he gets out there on the court, he breaksinto moves. I guess he's just watching film and stuff like that. He always hasa counter for a different move, and that's the great thing about Pek."There was a certain irony to Pekovic's performance, though. Those weren'tsupposed to be his opportunities; they were supposed to be Williams', or evenAnthony Tolliver's. Pekovic was filling in for Darko Milicic as he often hasin recent games who suffered a turned right ankle at practice on Monday.Williams started in Love's spot, yet Pekovic claimed Love's role, cleaning uphis teammates' mistakes and stepping in when no one else seemed able to.That's not to say that Williams squandered his second career start. Therookie was responsible for the 3-pointer with 56 seconds remaining that endedup deciding the game, putting his team up 85-82. Williams started the nightstrong and fell off in the second and third quarters, but he was able to stepup when it counted."In the third quarter, he was not very good," Adelman said of therookie. "He wasn't running the floor. I don't know if he got tired orwhat. But then when I put him back in the last five minutes, he hit the big 3,he got a couple rebounds. And that's what we're looking for."In a perfect world, Williams would have dazzled. He would have left thecrowd clamoring for more. But as refreshing as that kind of performance wouldhave been, it would also have been more complicated.Love isn't injured; he isn't out long term. There's no starting spot forWilliams, not even much of a chance for increased minutes at Love's expense. Astellar game from Williams might have forced Adelman to be more creative withthe rookie's minutes, but in the end, Pekovic's standout performance provedmuch more practical. Milicic is faltering, and the team needs a long-termsolution at center far more than a two-game fix at power forward."He certainly has earned a lot of his time," Adelman said of thecenter. "If we're playing well, I would hesitate to try to changethat."Despite Pekovic's performance, the game was far from perfect. What couldhave been an easy night came down to a missed 3-point shot by Sacramentos DonteGreen a shot Adelman refused to watch despite his close proximity but a winis still a win.And even without Love in the Timberwolves' lineup, Sacramento coach KeithSmart was anything but surprised. Before Tuesday's game, he talked about thedanger of counting out a team when its best player is out, and theTimberwolves' performance proved his theory correct, at least for a night."Sometimes your players have a tendency to think, oh, the best player'sout," Smart said. "But when you've been around the league for a while,you see that's just the opposite. Idon't pay that much attention when a guy is out, because those are the gamesthat are going to hurt you."The Timberwolves improvised, and Adelman did the most with what he had. BothWilliams and Michael Beasley admitted that they missed Love at times, butPekovic said the team only had time to think about Love's absence while restingon the bench."I think nobody got time (to miss Love), because they was running sofast to fast break," Pekovic said, laughing. "They was trying to findtheir players, because it was really tough for us."In the end, it didn't matter why Pekovic was in the starting lineup. Itdidn't matter that Williams was inconsistent, or even that Love was absent. Italmost did with a few inches and a slightly different angle on Green's shot but the Timberwolves escaped with a win, pushing themselves to a 13-12 recordfor the first time since 2005-06.They also made a statement that mattered far more than that fleeting record.The Timberwolves are more than one All-Star player. On Tuesday night, theyhad the guts to believe that, and they proved that this team has a foundationthat's greater than just Kevin Love.Follow JoanNiesen on Twitter.