Rubio works through frustration in comeback

"I'll have to talk to him," Porter said Thursday. "Everybody's frustrated, I think, with the whole situation and there's nothing wrong with that. From a competitive standpoint you want guys to be frustrated when they don't get a chance to play in the fourth quarter."

Williams sat the entire fourth quarter as well. He said he's seen Rubio that upset before, but usually it comes behind closed doors and not in public.

"Ricky's a competitor," Williams said. "He wants to play. We were both in that situation yesterday. You've just got to keep your head high, stay focused. We've got more games to win."

Rubio said after practice that he understood why Porter made the decision he did, but didn't hide his desire to be on the floor in the game's biggest moments.

"I was hot and of course there is respect for the teammates who were on the court," Rubio said. "I'm going to say the same thing always. I always want to play, even when I don't deserve it. I have ambition and I want to play and I want to try to help the team and I want to be in there in the last minutes."

Rubio said he respects Porter and is sure they can get back on the same page. And he isn't ready to give up on recapturing his mojo this season just yet.

"I don't want to think about next season," Rubio said. "I don't want to lose this season. I live in the present and I want to do as good as I can right now and I'm going to work as hard as I can to get healthy this season."

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