"Nikola Pekovic got another start for the Minnesota Timberwolves on Tuesday evening and racked up another big double-dub with 23 points and 10 boards, while knocking down nine of his 12 shot attempts and all five of his free throws. He even rounded out his stat line with three steals and two blocks. Based on what he's done the past couple of weeks, the hustle stats are a bit of an anomaly, but the double-dubs are coming in bunches. He has three in his past four games and missed the fourth by a single rebound.

The question now is: How long can he maintain this pace? He benefited Tuesday night from Kevin Love serving the first of a two-game suspension for using Luis Scola's face as a treadmill on Saturday. He also has started five of the Wolves' past seven games because Darko Milicic has been out for myriad reasons (illness, bruised quad/knee and most recently a sprained ankle sustained in Monday's practice). Nonetheless, the 6-foot-11, 290-pound Pekovic has taken advantage of the opportunity and has thoroughly outperformed Milicic. For instance, Milicic has scored in double figures five times this season, something Pekovic has done seven times in his past eight games. Milicic has 83 boards this season, while Pekovic has 72 boards during that eight-game stretch.

So long as Pekovic continues his strong play, it's hard to believe coach Rick Adelman will go back to the always unreliable Milicic as his starting center. So be sure Pekovic isn't still on your waiver wire if you need a big."