Tyus Jones hopes D-League performance results in more minutes with Wolves

With 2½ minutes left in the first quarter of Wednesday's game with San Antonio, for the first time in more than a month, Timberwolves rookie Tyus Jones checked into an NBA game.

A reward?

Perhaps.

Jones was fresh off a stint in the NBA Development League, a six-game stretch spent proving he didn't belong there. Don't get him wrong. When the Wolves arranged to send Jones to the Idaho Stampede, Jones was all for it. It meant much-needed playing time, a chance to develop, a chance to pump more confidence into his game.

And a chance to prove he didn't belong anywhere near the D-League.

"You do go down there trying to prove a point," Jones said. "Trying to make a statement. I think I played pretty well down there."

Six games, 35.2 minutes per game, 24.7 points and 5.0 assists per game.

It didn't take long for the Wolves to reward Jones, both for the numbers he posted with the Stampede and for his willingness to do whatever it took to get more of an opportunity with the Wolves. The former Apple Valley High School and Duke University star found himself on the court in the first quarter Wednesday.

In the final minute of the quarter Jones drove the lane and scored with his left hand — his first NBA field goal. After having played a grand total of 13 minutes and 42 seconds in his only two NBA outings, Jones played nearly 20 minutes, made three of seven shots for six points and had two assists and two steals.

"I think Tyus handled himself well [Wednesday night]," Wolves interim coach Sam Mitchell said after the game. "So I'm proud of Tyus."

More minutes could be coming. Bringing Jones off the bench to backup starting point guard Ricky Rubio allows Zach LaVine to play shooting guard, his natural position. With Jones back, the Wolves appear ready to dedicate more time to developing him. Mitchell said he talked with veteran shooting-guard Kevin Martin before Wednesday's game about that philosophy. Jones' minutes could come at the expense of Martin's, who did not play Wednesday.

And Jones appears ready, in large part due to his D-League experience.

"I didn't really know what to expect," said Jones, who consulted teammates Shabazz Muhammad and Adreian Payne — both of whom have D-League experience — before heading to the Stampede. "They gave me all the confidence in the world. Just go down there and play your game and do what you did to get up to this league. Use it as a tool to get better, and that's what I tried to do."

So what can a rookie get better at in one six-game stretch?

"Just small, in-game situations," he said. "There are certain things you do in practice, or when you're working out by yourself that translates to the game. But not 100 percent. So stuff like coming off the pick-and-roll, and making reads, is different in a game than it is in a drill."

So it was worth it. Jones admitted that, after having played so little, the big minutes he got with the Stampede was a test; he was hurting by the fourth quarter of the first game there. But all those minutes gave him both confidence and another shot with the Wolves. And he feels he's better prepared this time.

"I do, I do," he said. "I think being down there for those two weeks definitely helped me out, definitely prepared me, even more than I was. It just helped my process, I think."