You did it, Flea. Shabazz Muhammad has been freed

When Shabazz Muhammad graces the cover of NBA 2K15, we have Flea of the Red Hot Chili Peppers to thank for it.

The bassist wore a "Free Shabazz Muhammad" t-shirt during the Super Bowl earlier this month, showing support for the UCLA alum, as Flea's a noted Bruins fan.

Well, it took some time, but Muhammad appears to have been freed.

The 14th overall pick in this year's draft, Muhammad had managed just 82 minutes of run on the season through Feb. 21. Over the past week, however, coach Rick Adelman has been forced into playing Muhammad more due to injuries in the frontcourt and to Kevin Martin, necessitating the team go smaller at times.

Muhammad stumbled some in his first two outings with significant run, scoring eight points on 4-of-16 shooting in 34 minutes over Saturday and Sunday games against Utah and Portland. He grabbed 13 rebounds in those games, however, including seven on the offensive end of the floor, at least contributing with his shot not falling.

That effort earned Muhammad a career-high 24 minutes of action on Tuesday night against Phoenix, and the rookie rewarded Adelman for his faith.

Muhammad shot 8-of-13 from the field and 4-of-6 from the free throw line to post a career-high 20 points, second on the team to only Kevin Love on the night. Muhammad also added six rebounds, dished one assist and grabbed two steals, easily his best and most complete showing on the year.

Whether this means Muhammad will continue to get appreciable run is unclear, however. He's still shooting just 39.1 percent on the year (12.5 percent from long-range) and Martin and Nikola Pekovic are both due back in relatively short order.

For the time being, though, Adelman likely has a little more confidence in tapping No. 15 when the situation calls for it.