When Timberwolves veteran point guard Jeff Teague came off the floor Wednesday night just seven minutes back from injury, you might have considered the ensuing applause from Target Center's sellout crowd a heartfelt welcome back.
You would have been wrong.
You see, teammate Tyus Jones checked into the game when Teague picked up two quick fouls in his first action after he missed seven games because of a sprained knee ligament.
The big crowd cheered Jones' entrance because Minnesotans love their own, he played efficiently once again in Teague's absence and, well, everybody loves the backup quarterback.
But if you know Timberwolves coach/president of basketball operations Tom Thibodeau at all, you know that, unlike in social media's chatter, there's no quarterback controversy here.
Jones ran the team admirably when that Grade 1 sprain sidelined Teague. In fact, you could say the ball movement looked better, the defense was more active and he fit snugly with the other four starters
Jones is in the top five in the league in both assists and steals per turnover, and he's also the top-ranked point guard in defensive real plus-minus, an advanced statistic that measures a player's average impact on his team's defensive performance by the number of points allowed per 100 offensive possessions.
But Teague went back to his starter's job and Jones returned to the bench last week for two big reasons:
