The Minnesota Timberwolves start their 2012-13 regular season on Friday at 8:00 p.m. ET as they host the visiting Sacramento Kings.
The Timberwolves will be without Kevin Love and Ricky Rubio to start the season, but the early action should provide a great audition for role players like No. 2 pick Derrick Williams.
The Timberwolves were 21-19 and tied for the Western Conference's final playoff spot heading into their March 9 game against the Los Angeles Lakers before Rubio tore his left ACL in the final seconds of a 105-102 loss.
Minnesota proceeded to drop 20 of its last 25 to finish 26-40, its seventh consecutive losing season.
Rubio won't be back until at least mid-December, and the team received more bad news when Love broke his hand doing an in-home workout Oct. 17.
Love finished fourth in the NBA with 26.0 points per game while placing second with an average of 13.3 rebounds last season, but he'll miss at least the first month.
Brandon Roy will be making his return to the NBA as a member of the Timberwolves.
Roy decided to retire last season following the NBA lockout due to the cartilage wearing down in his both his knees. After announcing his comeback, Roy signed a two-year, $10.4 million contract with the Timberwolves where head coach Rick Adelman hopes he can play at least "30 to 32 minutes" per game.
The Kings started their season with a road loss to the Chicago Bulls on Wednesday night.
Tyreke Evans looked particularly good on both ends of the floor as he posted 21 points, eight rebounds, three assists and one block in the 93-87 loss.
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