Pekovic frustrated with ankle injury, will sit with Martin on Monday

Bruising Minnesota Timberwolves center Nikola Pekovic, flummoxed by a nagging and persistent ankle injury, will not play Monday against the Los Angeles Clippers. 

Pekovic left the team's game on Saturday due to pain in his right ankle, which has caused him trouble for some time. He had surgery at the end of the 2011-12 season to remove bone spurs from the ankle, later developing bursitis there in early 2014 and missing 28 of the team's final 38 games. He also missed 31 games earlier this season because of soreness.

"It's like, just tough," Pekovic said Saturday. "The guys give great resistance. They played hard and I feel really bad, but you can't help it. At some point, you know you have great reason. It's not something you can do about it, so hopefully it just gets better."

The team made it seem as if Pekovic could be set to miss some time, but he's being listed as questionable Monday despite sitting out shootaround.

Pekovic is averaging 13.2 points and 7.8 rebounds in 27 games. While his missing time wouldn't make much of a difference toward the team's ultimate goals for the season, having him in the lineup would allow him to continue to build chemistry with the team's younger players. Should he miss action, Gorgui Dieng would be the largest beneficiary in terms of playing time

Kevin Martin will also sit out Monday due to an illness, meaning Gary Neal or Zach LaVine could draw the start. However, even both together would struggle to replicate Martin's 20.5 points per game.