Grizzlies center Darko Milicic returned to practice Thursday, signaling that he's put a minor back injury behind him.
Milicic, who missed the team's first two preseason games, isn't sure how he hurt his back.
"I was trying to warm up (Wednesday), but I still had some pain,"
Milicic said. "I was scared because I've never felt that much pain in my back. It's never been like this."
"They found out it was nothing serious. It feels tight. I'll be fine. It's just back spasms."
Rookie Marc Gasol has started in Milicic's place at center.
Rookie forward Darrell Arthur (right hamstring) and veteran guard Marko Jaric (broken nose) also returned to practice. Jaric only participated in non-contact drills after having his broken nose repaired earlier this week.
Home, sweet home
A year ago, the Griz ran around Spain during a training camp expedition through Malaga and Madrid. It was a nice European vacation but not a very productive business trip, in hindsight.
Players are much more appreciative of training and then playing their first two preseason games near home.
"It didn't feel like training camp,"
Griz forward Hakim Warrick said about last season's Spain trip. "We're getting a lot more done this year."
Rudy Gay took issue with a European schedule.
"We were always on a plane and that was time we could have spent working on our defense and being on the court,"
Gay said. "This is more constructive for us."
Last year was the second time the Griz played part of their exhibition schedule in Spain. The NBA rotates teams throughout the league for the Europe Live training camp schedule.
Banged-up opponents
Back-to-back games presented another banged-up opponent for the Grizzlies. Washington entered FedExForum without key players, Gilbert Arenas (knee), Antwan Jamison (knee) and Brendan Haywood (wrist). Caron Butler didn't play as the Wizards decided to give him rest.
It was much of the same Tuesday night when the Griz lost at Houston. The Rockets were without Tracy McGrady, Steve Francis and Shane Battier.
Whereas some teams are dealing with injuries or trying to rest veteran players, the Griz are in full-blown experimental mode.
Griz head coach Marc Iavaroni has said that he intends to play his key youngsters and evaluate different lineup combinations.
For example, second-year guard Javaris Crittenton saw time for the first time Wednesday, coming off the bench behind O.J. Mayo after not playing Tuesday.
"I'm going to look at our defensive intensity and our ability to run constructively,"
Iavaroni said of the preseason objectives. "If we're running with a purpose and being unselfish then that shows we're gelling. Let's see how quickly we can gell."
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