Marko Jaric, it turns out, essentially placed himself on the inactive list Saturday night.

Jaric approached the Timberwolves and said he had left knee tendinitis before a 100-94 loss to the New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets at Target Center.

That could have been viewed as an expression of Jaric's dissatisfaction with his role since his demotion. Since losing his starting job after a 32-point loss at Golden State on Feb. 4, Jaric did not appear in the next two games and then played just seven minutes Friday against Utah.

Jaric said Saturday's appearance on the inactive list wasn't a sign of a bigger issue.

"No," he said. "It really hurts, and that's the reason."

This comes after Jaric voiced his frustration in Saturday's Pioneer Press, saying coach Dwane Casey hamstrung him with a lack of playing time and that helped lead to his demotion from the starting lineup.

"It's not a Marko vs. coach situation whatsoever," Casey said. "Marko's got tendinitis, and he's trying to work through that."