NBA Coast to Coast: Westbrook, LeBron speak; Rubio limps around

AROUND THE LEAGUE

One week after surgery on his broken right hand, Russell Westbrook is upbeat about his recovery and trying to help his injury-riddled team find a way to survive without current NBA MVP Kevin Durant and himself on the court.

Westbrook met with the media for the first time since suffering a small fracture early in the Thunder’s October 30th loss to the L.A. Clippers. He underwent surgery the following day, and is expected to miss 4-to-6 weeks.

For the three-time NBA All-Star, it was the fourth surgery in less than two years and another frustrating moment for one of the league’s most mercurial competitors.

“I missed a shot and tried to come back up and get a rebound and I hit my hand on Perk’s (teammate Kendrick Perkins) elbow. I knew I hurt something, I thought I dislocated my finger of something. I couldn’t tell until I got the ball back when I ran back down the court and couldn’t dribble,” said Westbrook. “I was already mad once I hit my hand because I knew it wasn’t gonna be good, so I was instantly upset and frustrated. Obviously, I was ready to go and ready to help my team go out and get wins, especially since we were down some guys already. It was frustrating for me, but it’ll be alright. I’ll get back to where I was at.”

Already hobbled by injuries to Durant and newcomer Anthony Morrow, the injury to Westbrook wasn’t the end of the misfortune. Forward Perry Jones and guards Jeremy Lamb and Reggie Jackson have also missed games, while rookie forwards Mitch McGary and Grant Jarrett have yet to begin their NBA careers due to injuries. On most nights, the team has had only eight available players.

The Thunder has been competitive in five of six games, but saw their record fall to 1-5 after a 91-89 home loss to Memphis Friday night. Oklahoma City has had to employ journeymen Sebastian Telfair and Lance Thomas in the starting lineup and recently picked up another well-traveled guard in Ish Smith.

Rubio out indefinitely with sprained ankle

The initial diagnosis on the severity of Ricky Rubio’s sprained left ankle was exactly what Minnesota coach Flip Saunders expected. It was bad. How bad, that won’t even be known for another two weeks.

The Timberwolves will be without their point guard indefinitely after an MRI exam on Saturday confirmed the sprain. Rubio will be re-evaluated later this month, at which time the team will formulate a potential timetable for his return.

“He’s in good spirits,” Saunders said before Minnesota faced the Miami Heat, not long after Rubio hobbled into the arena on crutches with a boot protecting his ankle. “He feels good. Anyone who knows Ricky, he went through his knee situation a few years ago, he’s an extremely hard worker. So he’ll get back. If anyone is going to get back as soon as they can, he’d be a guy that would.”

With Rubio out, the Timberwolves will rely more on Mo Williams at the point, though Saunders said he’s leery of playing the veteran more than 25 minutes a night. Rookie Zach LaVine, who logged a total of 13 minutes in Minnesota’s five games entering Saturday, also will become a bigger part of the rotation.

QUOTES OF THE WEEK

King James speaks

LeBron James took to Twitter to try to calm the fears with the Cleveland fans about the struggling Cavaliers, tweeting, “In the words of the great @AaronRodgers12 ‘RELAX.’”

No bad apples

With Phil Jackson (11 titles as a coach) as the new president of the Knicks and Derek Fisher (five titles as a player) as the new coach, New York All-Star forward Carmelo Anthony has noticed a different culture with the team compared with last season. “There’s no bad energy flowing through our team, the organization right now,” Anthony said. “That’s always a big key when you have that kind of atmosphere around.”

Denver zombies

Upset that his Nuggets trailed by 24 points before losing to an injury-depleted Oklahoma City team with only eight available players, Denver Coach Brian Shaw said, “We were like zombies — just motionless.”

Gone, not forgotten

Brooklyn owner Mikhail Prokhorov let it be known that there was no love lost when former Nets Coach Jason Kidd left to take the same position with Milwaukee. “I like what we have now,” Prokhorov said. “I think we shouldn’t get mad. I think we should get even. And we will see it on the court.”

GAME OF THE WEEK

San Antonio at Golden State

Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. TV: NBA

This could be another early-season test for the Warriors in their first meeting against the defending NBA champion Spurs. Then again, the Warriors can’t be sure that they’ll see the full Spurs team. San Antonio Coach Gregg Popovich has already started sitting his aging stars. He did not play Tim Duncan (38) and Manu Ginobili (37) in the second of back-to-back games against Houston on Thursday, and the Warriors game is the day after the Spurs play the Clippers.