Wolves' Budinger healing faster than Turiaf

Timberwolves coach Rick Adelman delivered updates on injured forward Chase Budinger and center Ronny Turiaf before Wednesday's home game against Philadelphia, each with a common message: patience.

Turiaf is shooting with that healing right elbow and has participated in offensive walk-throughs with his teammates but hasn't practiced yet because he still doesn't have full, pain-free motion in that arm. He was injured during a fall in the season's second game, Nov. 1 against Oklahoma City.

"He's not there at all yet," Adelman said. "It's just healing a lot slower than they anticipated. It's just a slower process than the doctors thought and he thought. He's getting better, but I think it will be a while yet."

Budinger accompanied the team to Detroit for Tuesday's game, the first time he has done that since returning from Florida after he had surgery there right when his teammates reported for training camp in October.

It once seemed certain that Turiaf would return before Budinger, but now …

"I don't know," Adelman said. "We're hoping Chase can practice the next couple weeks and then we'll see where he goes from there. Right now, they're both unknown."

Both players wore suits and sat behind the Wolves' bench during Wednesday's game.

Wolves point guards Ricky Rubio and J.J. Barea combined for 25 points on 9-for-17 shooting, 15 assists and no turnovers in Tuesday's romp at Detroit. They weren't quite as effective Wednesday against Philadelphia.

Before Wednesday's game, Adelman was asked if Tuesday's game is a model for his point guards.

"Oh yeah, I'd like to see that every night," he said. "They have the ability to do it. … It's crucial for us to have that. They can set the tone for us. We can't come down and try to attack a set defense all the time. Our point guards have a tendency to do that. They had a much better balance to their game."

Sixers guard Michael Carter-Williams — an early leader in the clubhouse for Rookie of the Year honors — missed his fourth consecutive game because of a knee infection after being hospitalized in Philadelphia for three days last week. The infection developed after he hit knees with an opponent.

"It's something that is worrying," Sixers coach Brett Brown said. "But we're past that. We got it under control. As an organization, we did something smart a week ago and didn't chance anything. We exercised caution. … It turned out to be the correct [decision] and now it's a skin infection that's under control and getting better."

Carter also missed four games earlier this season because of a bruised foot. He came within one steal and three rebounds of a quadruple-double in his NBA debut, an upset of two-time defending champion Miami on opening night in October.

• Wolves reserve guard Alexey Shved made an early appearance in Tuesday's game at Detroit because starting shooting guard Kevin Martin's knee was sore, but it was fine for Wednesday's game, Adelman said.

• Point guard Lorenzo Brown — a Wolves second-round pick last summer who was one of the last training-camp cuts — signed with the Sixers on Nov. 20 and came off the bench nine minutes into Wednesday's game.