Well-traveled center Greg Monroe returns to Timberwolves

For the second time this season, the Timberwolves flashed the Bat-Signal and center Greg Monroe heeded the call.

The 6-11 veteran, after finishing a 10-day contract in Utah, signed with the Wolves for the remainder of the season.

Monroe, 31, played three games with Minnesota in December on a 10-day deal during the Wolves' COVID-19 outbreak in which eight players missed games. This time, the 6-11 Monroe adds much-needed size to the lineup for the final two regular-season games and the probable play-in tournament next week.

"We are a small team," Wolves coach Chris Finch said at shootaround Thursday. "We are who we are, gotta play a little tougher, a little stronger."

Playing the Celtics on Dec. 27 without Karl-Anthony Towns, Anthony Edwards, D'Angelo Russell and Patrick Beverley, Monroe contributed 11 points, nine rebounds and six assists off the bench to lift Minnesota to a 108-103 win. Since then, the nine-year NBA veteran has bounced around to Washington, Milwaukee and Utah.

Before the Wolves played San Antonio on Thursday, Beverley missed two games because of ankle and hip soreness, and the team has missed him too, giving up 132 points in each. He's was back in the starting lineup against the Spurs.

"He's such a tone-setter," Finch said. "You can see we have a tendency to come out and be a little soft when he's not out there at the point of attack, and you saw that the other night. He's big for us."

Russell, however, popped up late on the injury report as questionable because of bilateral hamstring soreness and was later downgraded to out. The surprise injury is a blow for the guard who had started to find his shot again, hitting 47.6% from the field in the past three games.

The Wolves' early defensive struggles on Tuesday allowed the Wizards to shoot 63% from the field in the first quarter, which they rode to an 18-point victory.

With Beverley playing again, Minnesota is confident in its ability to bounce back from Tuesday's loss.

"That's been one of our traits," Finch said. "We've laid some eggs, but fortunately we've come out and hatched them the next time."

The Spurs' Gregg Popovich made his head coaching debut on Nov. 1, 1996, an 82-78 loss to the Wolves at Target Center. Thursday night, he returned to Minneapolis with a new title: NBA regular-season all-time winningest head coach.

He reached the mark on March 11 with his 1,336th win, 104-102 over the Jazz. He has notched eight wins since then to bring his career total to 1,344 and to lock the Spurs into a play-in tournament spot. Since that career-opening loss to Minnesota, he has feasted on the Wolves with a 63-31 head-to-head record.

The Timberwolves have the upper hand this season, though. Two wins in two tries over San Antonio had point guard Jordan McLaughlin excited for Thursday's game.

"It creates like a playoff atmosphere, playing a team more than once," McLaughlin said. "It's hard to beat a team more than once, but facing them three times, it's even harder."