The Minnesota Timberwolves' chances to go on a stretch of games to get themselves back in the playoff picture is quickly running out with just 18 games to go this season. They may be getting a bit of relief as this season-long 7-game road trip will painstakingly come to an end tonight! The TWolves have gone 2-4, thus far. Since Ricky Rubio went down with his torn ACL & LCL, the TWolves have lost 5 of 7, since that March 9th game. The Oklahoma City Thunder will be going for an 11-consecutive victory over the Timberwolves in this one and are already 1-0 against them this season. The Thunder have faltered a bit as of late as they haven't won two-consecutive victories since March 5th-7th. The TWolves' last win over the Thunder came January 7, 2009. The TWolves won that one 129-87! Over the last 11 meetings since then between these two teams, Kevin Durant has been key in OKC's victories by averaging 31.4ppg! It's no secret, the Thunder have become one of the powerhouses in the NBA led by Durant, Westbrook & Harden. Oklahoma City are #1 in the Western Conference currently, with a 35-12 record. The Minnesota Timberwolves are currently #11 in the Western Conference, with a 23-25 record. The Thunder are 20-4 at home, while the TWolves are 11-13 on the road. Lastly, OKC is 6-4 in their last 10, while Minnesota is 4-6. The Thunder's last game was a win over the Clippers on Wednesday, 114-91. Kevin Durant had 32pts, 9reb, 5ast; Westbrook added 19pts; Serge had 15pts & 8reb. The Thunder protected the paint and played very physical in the win. A big key was limiting Blake Griffin to just 7pts. The likely starting lineups will be: Ridnour--Russell Westbrook (23.7ppg, 6.1apg, 5.3rpg), Webster--Thabo Sefelosha (5.2ppg, 2.1rpg, 3.3apg), Johnson--Kevin Durant (33ppg, 2.9apg, 8.6rpg), Williams--Serge Ibaka (8.8ppg, 7.8rpg, 3.3bpg), Love--Kendrick Perkins (4.3ppg, 6.3rpg, 1.2bpg). Injury Report
"Pek is huge for us, he's the guy we can throw it into and know we can get easy buckets. He can keep the other team off the glass. It was tough for us," says Kevin Love following Wednesday's loss to the Spurs. With Pekovic out, it's likely the TWolves will go with a starting frontcourt of Kevin Love at center and rookie Derrick Williams at power forward. Why not Darko? Here's the story on that: Darko's Dedication & Motivation Non-Existent...As Per Usual. Key Players
Key Matchup(s)Wesley Johnson vs. Kevin Durant: I've accepted that Wes won't blow up one game and score 20+ in a game this season, however, his defense is what keeps him in the starting lineup! I have no doubt Durant will score 25-30 tonight. I highly doubt Wes is going to be able to stop him or even slow him down! PLEASE WES! SURPRISE US! Time for some lockdown D!
Kevin Love vs. Perkins or Ibaka: I don't know how the Thunder's frontcourt will matchup with Minnesota's. I'm not even certain Minnesota will indeed start D-Will & Love. Adelman may throw Darko out there suddenly or even Miller (highly doubt on both). Let's say they do start Love at center, who will matchup with D-Will & Love, then? Both are players that can play inside & out. Perkins isn't a really mobile defender that normally won't stray too far from the paint, is he going to be able to close out on Love on the perimeter? I doubt Perkins will matchup with Williams, whose even quicker. This quicker frontcourt could be a big advantage or disadvantage for Minnesota. Real decisive answer, for ya, huh? FINAL NOTES: Derek Fisher made his debut with the Thunder in their last game vs. the Clippers. That was after he was traded by the Lakers to the Rockets, agreed to a buyout and signed with OKC. He played 19 minutes, had 5pts, 1reb, 1ast, 1blk. Definitely brings championship pedigree to this young Thunder team.......AccuScore has OKC as the clear favorite: 90%-10%, OKC by 10.5, with an O/U: 0.0........Ricky underwent successful knee surgery on Wed. to repair his ACL, they also found damage to his LCL, which they also had to reconstruct, here's the full report: Rubio Undergoes Successful Surgery........ PROJECTED FINAL OUTCOME: Minnesota 92, Oklahoma City 105 TIPOFF: Tonight's game will tip from Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City at 7pmCT. Thanks for reading HOWL and GO WOLVES!
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The San Antonio Spurs dropped the Minnesota Timberwolves 116-100. In fact, they dropped them, punched them in the gut, gave 'em a 'noogie' and spit in their eyes. It was just a pounding from the home team for our TWolves. The Spurs were able to beat up on the TWolves despite being without their All-Star Tony Parker for the majority of the game. Parker left in the second quarter with tightness in his hamstring. The Wolves were without Nikola Pekovic who returned to the Twin Cities earlier today to have some treatment on his sore ankles. Instead of starting Darko Milicic at center, Adelman elected to start Kevin Love at center and Derrick Williams as his power forward. The reason behind not starting Darko was that Rick Adelman doesn't like his effort and hasn't kept himself in shape. The Spurs outscored Minnesota 32-16 in the first quarter that helped jump start their offense, that didn't seem to halt, all night long. The Spurs were up just 9 at halftime 47-56. The Spurs came into the third quarter and were able to push the lead to 22 at one point and ended the quarter up 20; 71-91. The Spurs pulled their starters and the TWolves also played mostly reserves to outscore San Antonio 29-25 for a 100-116 final. Let's take a look at some of tonight's top performers for each team... Top Performers
HOT: Minnesota's bench was hot. Tolliver, Ellington & Barea combined for 49pts. This is a bench that Beasley only played 11 minutes and added 4 points (the whole bench then had 53pts) and a bench that was without Derrick Williams who moved into the starting lineup in place of Pekovic. For the Spurs it was Tim Duncan! My goodness, the future Hall-of-Famer dumped in a 21-15 in just 24 minutes. NOT: Luke Ridnour had an off-night as well as just about every other Timberwolves starter. Luke shot just 1-of-7 from the field and finished with 4pts. Williams had a good chance for a great game, but in 37 minutes, he finished with 9pts, 7rebs on 4-of-12 shooting. For the Spurs, it was Tony Parker. Clearly the injury led to him playing just 10 minutes, shooting 1-for-4 and finishing with 2pts & 6ast. MISC.: Tiago Splitter grabbed 7rebs, had 4ast and scored 11pts.....Gary Neal filled in for the injured Parker and had those 16pts as well as a rebound, 3ast & 4stls.....Malcolm Lee saw 4 minutes and had a rebound, and an assist..... KEY MATCHUP(S) RESULTS... Luke Ridnour vs. Tony Parker: Luke played 25 minutes. Tony played 10 minutes. Ridnour finished with 1 assist. Parker finished with 6 assists. Luke had 4 points. Parker had 2 points. Despite playing 15 less minutes, Parker had the better game! Winner: Parker. Kevin Love vs. Tim Duncan: Yeah, I thought Kevin Love was going to have a GREAT game, but instead we saw Tim Duncan turn back the clock and in limited playing time absolutely crushed the Wolves and was a key part of this San Antonio victory. Love shot just 5-of-13 from the field. Duncan had more points, rebounds, assists and blocks. Winner: Duncan. Team Statistics
KEY STATS: Minnesota got pounded on the boards--a +15 for the Spurs!! Even without Parker for a full game the Spurs still racked up 29 assists (Ginboli's 8 was the team-high). The Spurs were also able to double the totals of Minnesota in fast break points.
FINAL NOTES: During Ricky's surgery they found damage to his LCL as well as the aforementioned ACL, the surgery was successful, typical recovery time is 6-9 months.......The Spurs will likely sign Patrick Mills and potentially Boris Diaw to rest of the season contracts......The attendance at the AT&T Center was 18,581......The Spurs retired Bruce Bowen's #12 jersey after the game. Bowen was on the NBA All-Defensive team 8 times and started on the Spurs' championship teams in 2003, 2005 & 2007....... UP NEXT: Friday March 23 @Oklahoma City (tipoff 7pmCT), Sunday March 25 vs. Denver (tipoff 2:30pmCT), Tuesday March 27 @Memphis Grizzlies (tipoff 7pmCT). Thanks for reading HOWL and GO WOLVES! The Minnesota Timberwolves have had plenty of success vs. the Spurs this season. After five years of dominance by San Antonio over Minnesota, the Wolves have won the first two matchups vs. the Spurs this season. However, tonight could be different. The Spurs are playing at home (the AT&T Center) where Minnesota has dropped 14-straight to San Antonio, which is tied for the fourth-longest active home winning streak in the NBA. In the last matchup vs. these two teams, the Spurs were without their best player: Manu Ginobli. Now, Minnesota has lost one of their best players--Ricky Rubio. Since that last win over the Spurs for Minnesota, the Spurs have gone 17-6 and moved to 2nd place in the Western Conference standings. Minnesota is currently 23-24 on the year, 11-12 on the road and 5-5 in their last ten games. The Spurs are 29-14 on the year, 17-4 at home and 6-4 in their last ten games. Clearly San Antonio's 'struggles' come on the road. Minnesota's records (overall, road, home) are right around .500, so by simply records alone, Minnesota would have a 50% chance of winning this one. I would say vs. the Spurs on their home court and how solid they've been the past month--that's really not the case. San Antonio's last game came against the Dallas Mavericks on Saturday (3/17). Despite 17pts from starters Tim Duncan & Danny Green as well as 15 from Tiago Splitter & 13pts & 11ast from Tony Parker, Dirk Nowitzki went to work and propelled his Mavericks with 27pts for a big W. Spurs dropped that one 99-106. A loss for the Spurs tonight would be the first time since the end of January that they've lost two-straight games. The end of January they lost two in a row vs. the.......TWolves & Mavericks! Interesting enough! Minnesota is trying to win three in a row over the Spurs for the first time since the 1996-97 when Minnesota swept the season series. Let's take a look at who'll be available for each team tonight.... Injury Report
Key Players
Key Matchup(s)Luke Ridnour vs. Tony Parker: There's no question that Tony is the better player. Ridnour has had solid outings since Ricky Rubio went down. His points & assist totals have risen as he's been called upon to move from the off-guard to the floor general. Tony Parker is one of the top point guards in this League. He's every Luke Ridnour "+5". He's got the edge as a scorer as a playmaker as a defender. All in all it's not a superstar vs. superstar matchup, but it'll be key for either team for these two to have solid outings.
Kevin Love vs. Tim Duncan: I realize Kevin Love won't be matched up with Tim Duncan. The way San Antonio's lineup is set up DeJuan Blair is listed as the center and Duncan is the power forward. Darko Milicic will likely start with Pekovic out and because of his defense, length and shot-blocking he'll likely matchup with Timmy, while Love takes Blair. However, I'm still looking at this as: a future Hall-of-Famer, one of the greatest power forwards ever vs. the Best Young Power Forward, likely annual All-Star and MVP candidate. It's old vs. new. It's not really going to be the matchup, but it's still fun to talk about. The likely starting lineup matchups will be: Ridnour--Parker, Webster--Ginboli or Kawhi Leonard, Johnson--Danny Green or Kawhi Leonard, Love--Duncan, Milicic--DeJuan Blair. FINAL NOTES: Ricky Rubio will have surgery on his knee today in Vail Colorado. The full story on that can be found here: Rubio to Have Surgery on Torn ACL (3/21).......The San Antonio Spurs traded Richard Jefferson at the deadline for Stephen Jackson. He made his debut vs. the Mavs and will likely continue to come off the bench behind Kawhi Leonard in the starting lineup.......Via AccuScore, the Spurs are a 72%-28% favorite in this one.....Boris Diaw agreed to a buyout with the Charlotte Bobcats and the Spurs are considered one of the frontrunners to sign him. It makes sense as San Antonio could use another big man and of course him & Parker are buddies--both being French and playing for the national team together (obviously doesn't pertain to tonight's matchup, though)...... PROJECTED FINAL OUTCOME: Spurs 97, Minnesota 89 TIPOFF: Tonight's game tips from the AT&T Center at 7:30pmCT. Thanks for reading HOWL and GO WOLVES! I would be lying if I said I wasn't more than concerned that Minnesota blew a 14-point halftime lead and allowed the Warriors to battle back and take a lead. To the point where the final quarter and a half were a back-and-forth affair that the TWolves were thankfully able to close. The Wolves' largest lead of the night was 17 points and the Warriors only led by 2 points on a number of different points in the final two quarters. Tonight's win is only the fourth time this season that the Wolves have won a second-half of back-to-back games this season (after losing to the Kings last night). The TWolves also snapped a three-game losing streak and moved to within 1.5 games of the Houston Rockets for the 8th seed in the Western Conference. A 30-minute halftime may have had a small part in the TWolves offense lapse in the third quarter that allowed the Warriors to punch their way back into the game. That 30-minute halftime was for Chris Mullin who had a ceremony at halftime to retire his jersey. We'll talk a bit more about that a little later... Minnesota looked as though they were going to 'run away' with this one after the horrid shooting for Golden State in the first half. That changed dramatically in the second half as the Warriors picked apart Minnesota's defense and got back into this one. Minnesota got some key play from their bench and another huge performance from Kevin Love to snap a nasty 3-game losing streak and move to 23-24 on the year and 11-12 on the road. The Warriors fall to 18-25 and 10-13 at home. Let's take a look at who stepped up for each team and who should've stepped up... Top Performers
HOT: Clearly the 'hot' player for Minny was Sir Kevin Love! K-Love carried the team in scoring scoring over 37% of the team's points! After the game Adelman sang his praise, saying he's "never had someone put up those kind of numbers." Also calling it "unbelievable". For the Warriors it was Love's matchup at the 'four' spot. He had a nice 25-9 game for himself, however in crunch time--that final quarter, Lee scored just one point! NOT: J.J. Barea. As far as shooting it wasn't a kind night for Barea. He shot just 3-of-10 from the field and 0-for-2 from deep. He finished with just 6pts, but he more than made up for it with his 10 assists! For the Warriors, it was just about every guy who played in the first half. They W's went through players having 'off' quarters, but nobody had a terrible game (ultimately for either team). MISC.: J.J. Barea & Luke Ridnour both had 10 assists, it's just the 5th time in franchise history that two players have each had 10+ assists.....Derrick Williams grabbed 11 rebounds (all defensive).....Klay Thompson scored all of his 17 points in the second half.....Dominic McGuire had an rough shooting night: 1-5, but grabbed 9 boards and had 4 assists..... Team Statistics
KEY STAT(S): A +15 for Minnesota in the rebounding category.....Despite Minnesota's 17 turnovers, because of the Warriors' poor first half shooting and the Wolves' rebounding advantage, Minnesota was somehow able to escape with the W.....
FINAL NOTES: During halftime, Joe Lacob (Warriors owner) was part of the halftime ceremony that saw Chris Mullin have his jersey retired and unveiled in the rafters. During that, the fans in Oakland rained down boos that resonated through ORACLE Arena. Here's the video on that. Supposedly, the fans were booing because the W's traded away Monta Ellis! Yeah, the fans were booing because the team traded...Monta Ellis!.....Veteran center Brad Miller stated before tonight's game that he intends to retire at season's end (14 year's in the NBA). He intends to focus on hunting TV shows in retirement. He's got a very small buyout this summer on his contract that basically guaranteed he wouldn't be back next season. David Kahn said he'd like Miller to stay with the team in some capacity once he's finished playing...if interested.....Pek only played 11 minutes because of his sore ankles, he came off the court and went directly into the locker room during the third quarter and didn't return to the floor or the bench for the remainder of the game.....Beasley only played 10 minutes because of that swollen big toe, he did score 8 points on 3-of-6 shooting, however.....J.J. Barea was playing with a swollen right thumb he jammed in the last game, he had it wrapped up, could've had something to do with his 30% shooting night.....Stephen Curry and Andrew Bogut were inactive due to ankle injuries..... UP NEXT: Wed. 3/21 @San Antonio (7:30pmCT tip), Fri. 3/23 @Oklahoma City (7pmCT tip), Sun. 3/25 vs. Denver (2:30pmCT tip). Thanks for reading HOWL and GO WOLVES! The similarities between these two teams are a little odd, all of the similarities I'm referring to, however, are statistical...
Minnesota is currently on a 3-game losing streak. Golden State is currently on a 3-game losing streak. Minnesota is 4-6 in their last 10 games. Golden State is 4-6 in their last 10 games. Minnesota is currently averaging 98.2 points per game. Golden State is currently averaging 98.2 points per game. Minnesota has lost 24 games this season. Golden State has lost 24 games this season. Minnesota is 10-12 on the road (will be playing in Golden State). Golden State is 10-12 at home. I hope I'm not the only one who feels this is strange! Beyond what we have listed above, these are two different teams in different situations. Minnesota is currently 22-24 on the year. Golden State is currently 18-24 on the year. If Minnesota continues to struggle these two teams may have more in common. Minnesota is quickly slipping out of the Western Conference playoff picture. With Golden State's trade of Monta Ellis for an oft-injured center and with Stephen Curry having missed quite a bit of time with a sprained ankle as the Warriors are contemplating 'shutting him down' for the season. Before the deadline, the Golden State Warriors traded Monta Ellis, Ekpe Udoh and Kwame Brown to the Milwaukee Bucks for Andrew Bogut and Stephen Jackson. The next day, Golden State traded Jackson to the San Antonio Spurs for Richard Jefferson and a pick. By trading away Ellis for an injured center that may not even be able to play for the remainder of this season, most assume the Warriors have given up on, playoff hopes this season. Especially with Stephen Curry's lingering ankle problems. Wright said after the trade that he was mad and basically said "So, what have we given up on the season." Minnesota has struggled against the Golden State these past few seasons. Minnesota has actually dropped 6 of the last 7 meetings. However with the W's trading away Ellis, that could spell, good news for the Wolves as he's averaged 22.3ppg vs. Minnesota the past two seasons. This is the first matchup between these two teams this season. It's no secret Minnesota has been slumping as of late. They've lost 5 of their last 6 games and they're hoping to avoid their second four-game losing streak of the season. I hoped Minnesota would be able to get back on track vs. the Kings last night in Sacrmento, clearly that wasn't the case! Here's the recap of that one. I won't speculate that a matchup against the Warriors is something that could get Minnesota back on a winning streak and back into the playoff picture. Tensions have run high for Minnesota during these past couple weeks. In fact, during the game vs. the Kings yesterday, during a timeout, a couple of TWolves teammates got into an argument and had to be separated. During a timeout, J.J. Barea walked over to Kevin Love and said something that clearly 'got under his skin'. Love immediately jumped up and it was clear you could see he was yelling, Martell Webster actually had to step in between the two. Here's the video on ESPN: Emotions Run High in Wolves' Loss. Following the game, Kevin Love had this to say, "It's frustrating, but nothing personal against J.J. I think we were both frustrated and took it out on each other when we should have took it out on the other team. So both of us made mistakes and both of us feel bad." Minnesota is DESPERATE for a win! The Warriors' last game was against the Utah Jazz. The result? A 92-99 overtime loss to the Jazz. For Utah, Derrick Favors started in place of Al Jefferson (who was attending his grandmother's funeral) he stepped up with 23pts & 17reb and helped put away Golden State in the overtime by scoring 4 of the first 6 points for Utah. Nate Robinson led the charge with 19pts, Lee added 18pts & 7reb, Thompson had 17pts and Wright had 13pts & 10reb. Minnesota may be without Nikola Pekovic, once again. He sat out Sunday night vs. the Kings due to a sore ankle. Minnesota believes he'll be available and able to play, though he'll likely be a gametime decision. Michael Beasley re-injured his big toe and had to wear his flip flops after the game because he couldn't get his shoes back on due to the swelling. There's a chance he won't be able to play tonight... For the Warriors, they'll likely be without Stephen Curry with a sprained ankle, which would be a fourth straight game. Newly-acquired Andrew Bogut is also out with an ankle sprain and hasn't played as a Warrior, yet. Because of those injuries, these are likely the matchups we can expect: Ridnour--Curry or Nate Robinson, Webster--Klay Thompson, Johnson--Dorell Wright, Love--David Lee, Pekovic or Darko or Randolph--Andris Biedrens. The Minnesota Timberwolves' biggest concerns, is if Pek is unable to play, there's some question to who would start at center in his place. Darko Milicic started in place of Pek vs. the Kings but played only 6 minutes (all in the first quarter). Anthony Randolph saw extended minutes for the first time in a long time and had 10pts & 9reb. Randolph vs. Biedrens is a terrible matchup and you don't really need Darko's defense against the W's center, because Biedrens isn't going to drop 20 on you...ever (I really hope he doesn't explode for 20 now that I've said that). That's all for now. Tonight's tip is set for 9:30pmCT and a full gameday recap can be found on this site following the final horn. Until then, thanks for reading HOWL and GO WOLVES! All in all, this was just a disappointing game, through and through. A win could've gotten Minnesota back on track, but now they've dropped 6 of their last 7 games and have fallen out of the playoff picture. The lack of urgency seemed to permeate the entire Wolves squad as they again played without much heart. There were some other guys that stepped up offensively, but no one seemed to interesting in locking down defensively, that's why Minnesota allowed the second-most season-high in points for opponents with 115 (high being 124 vs. PHO). The Kings didn't seem capable of missing a shot, while the TWolves couldn't buy a bucket. We'll get to those team stats in a moment, though. Beyond Sacramento's hot shooting, the Wolves couldn't hold on to the ball to save their lives. The Kings had no problem capitalizing on those TO's. If Minnesota wants to get back on track a matchup against the Kings would've seemed like the perfect matchup. A game vs. the newly-'blown up' Golden State Warriors HAS TO result in a Minnesota win. Let's take a look at some individual statistics for each team's top players in tonight's contest...
Both teams got good production from a wide variety of their players. Minnesota was without Nikola Pekovic who is nursing a sore ankle. Love didn't play his usual 40 minutes, but still had a 20-10, of course it took him 20 shots to get those 21pts. I think that's something that people overlook. His numbers are great, but he's taking a lot of shots every game out. I do feel he should look to find his teammates more often, he did have 3 assists, however. As you can see the bench was more involved. With Pek out Darko Milicic got the start, but played just 6 minutes (all in the 1st Q). Randolph saw some extended minutes (played 20) and shot 5-of-8 from the field and was a rebound shy of a double-double. I'd expect Randolph's playing time to continue to be sporadic. For the Kings, Isaiah Thomas played just 28 minutes in that starting point guard role, but shot 60% from the field & 67% from deep. Thornton followed up a 36-point outing vs. the Celtics on Friday with a 24-point outburst. The Kings were without one of their top players (Evans--with a sprained left ankle), but Salmons stepped up in the starting small forward position and Greene came off the bench with 11. Let's take a look at some team stats...
The story? Turnovers, turnovers, turnovers....and of course--points leading to turnovers. Minnesota turned the ball over 21 times and allowed 29 points for the Kings. Minnesota stuck pretty close in percentages, the out-rebounded the Kings, got more bench production, stuck close in fast break points as well as points in the paint, but it was those turnovers that really 'shot the Wolves in the foot' in this one. Turnovers definitely tell the story of this 16-point loss.
Minnesota will be back in action tomorrow vs. the Golden State Warriors. Tip is set for 9:30pmCT and full gameday recap can be found on this site tomorrow afternoon, until then, thanks for reading HOWL and GO WOLVES! The Minnesota Timberwolves seem to have hit a wall recently and just can't get over the hump as they've dropped five of their last six games. Dropping them below .500 for the first time since March 1st and with every loss, the Wolves' playoff hopes growing dim. Minnesota is now 4th in the Northwest & 11th in Western Conference, currently two games out of the 8th seed.
Minnesota is currently 22-23 on the year and 4-6 in their last ten games. Minnesota is facing a Kings squad that's 15-29 and have gone 3-7 in their last ten games. Tonight's game may be just what the Wolves need to get back on track. Minnesota is 10-11 on the road and Sac-Town is 11-9 at home this season. The Kings clearly better at home than on the road (4-20 on the road). Following the Wolves' lost to the Lakers on Friday the key to the lost, according to Rick Adelman, was a lack of urgency. The team was playing as though they were down by 20 the whole game, when by the fourth quarter they had cut the lead to single digits.' The Kings' last game was an impressive & surprising win over the Boston Celtics, 120-95. The Kings had no problem putting away Boston as they got 36 from Thornton (who hit five 3's), 21 from Thompson & 20 from Cousins. Those 120pts were a season-high in points allowed for the Celtics, who are known as a solid defensive squad. The Kings could be without Tyreke Evans & Francisco Garcia. Both sat out Friday's game vs. Boston. Evans is nursing a left ankle sprain and Garcia was out with a sprained wrist. For Minnesota, Beasley is likely a gametime decision after missing the past two games with that sore big toe. The teams will likely matchup: Ridnour--Isaiah Thomas, Webster--Marcus Thornton, Johnson--Evans or Salmons, Love--Thompson, Pekovic--Cousins. The matchup I'm most looking forward to is a rematch of Cousins & Pek. Two of the biggest and strongest guys in the NBA. Watching those two bigs 'bang' in the post was a lot of fun in the last matchup of these two teams. Pekovic showed a bit more of his agility and quickness as he maneuvered in the post with speed, but also with that 290 pound frame. If the Wolves want to win this one...and for that matter, anymore games this season, they need one thing. BENCH SCORING. I realize that's not the only thing they'll need to be successful, but it's one thing that has been sorely lacking these past few games and without it Minnesota has suddenly dropped out of the playoff picture. A lot of that can be attributed to Michael Beasley's injury. Beas is a go-to scorer of the bench that can create his own shot and when he's 'hot' he can carry a team. If the Wolves want to win they're going to need production from guys like Williams, Barea & Beasley. Some help from the starting lineup (in the scoring department) wouldn't hurt either. It's clear that Wes is a solid defender--the best perimeter defender the Wolves have right now (in my opinion), but he also has the tools to be a great scorer. I'm not saying we need Wes to score 20pts a game, but a consistent effort of 7-10pts a night would REALLY benefit a team in dire need of someone else to step up on the scoring front beyond Love & Pek as well as the usual 10-15 from Ridnour. Tipoff is set for 5pmCT and a full gameday recap can be found here following the final horn. Thanks for reading HOWL and GO WOLVES! The Minnesota Timberwolves couldn't stop the bleeding. The bleeding that's been going on since 2007! The bleeding that was 19 losses to the Lakers, ago. Minny dropped a 19th straight game to the Lakers as L.A. tied their longest winning streak of the season (at 5-straight games). The Lakers had pushed the lead to as many as 18 points, but in the final two minutes of the contest, Minnesota was able to cut it to single digits. But ultimately they ran out of time in this one as they tried to 'play the fouling game' with under 20 seconds remaining. A three by Webster with just a couple ticks on the clock gave us a final: Lakers win 92-97. Kevin Love played through wit a sprained thumb, Michael Beasley sat out with a toe injury. New Laker Ramon Sessions made his debut, Jordan Hill didn't however (because Derek Fisher hasn't had his physical yet--deal technically not official, yet). Minnesota falls to under .500 with this loss: 22-23 and to 10-11 on the road. The Lakers improve to 28-16 on the year and are now an NBA-best 18-2 at home. Let's take a look at some of the individual statistics from tonight's game for each team...
If the Timberwolves had gotten more scoring out of someone besides Kevin Love & Nikola Pekovic, the outcome may have been different. It's incredible that Love's 25-15 games are becoming routine, but Pek dumping in 20-10 is becoming commonplace as well! Luke Ridnour had another great game with another double-double 12-11 and turned the ball over....0 times! The "Big Three" were key and the knockout punch was 17 from Matt Barnes off the bench in 20 minutes. He scored 10 in the second quarter & 7 in the fourth quarter. Kobe was Kobe, he did his most damage with 9 in the first quarter and 11 in the third quarter. Let's take a look at the team stats from tonight's game...
The biggest differential (and keys to the TWolves loss/Lakers win). 3PT%, the Lakers shot 46% compared to 18% for Minny. The TWolves bench misses Michael Beasley as they were outscored by a +12 for L.A. Ultimately without Matt Barnes performance/Lakers' three-point percentage the TWolves would've won this won.
Evidence of that? Minnesota won the battle of the boards, 55-47 by a +8. They had more fast break points (a +2). A +14 in points in the paint as well as less turnovers leading to less opponent points! That's all for now. The TWolves are back in action Sunday in Sacramento vs. the Kings. Until then, thanks for reading HOWL and GO WOLVES! The Minnesota Timberwolves stood pat at the deadline and didn't make any deals. There was a rumor that a last minute deal could've been pushed through that would've landed Minnesota Jamal Crawford & Derek Fisher, send Michael Beasley to Los Angeles and LAL would send Steve Blake back to Portland. Nonetheless, the Lakers made plenty of trades....two, to be exact.
The Lakers traded away longtime Laker and integral part of five Lakers NBA Championships to the Houston Rockets (along with one of the 2012 1st Rd. pick from Dallas) for big man Jordan Hill. Prior to that trade they also made a deal with the Cleveland Cavaliers that sent Luke Walton, Jason Kapono and a 2012 1st Rd. pick to the Cavs for former TWolf Ramon Sessions and guard-forward Christian Eyenga. It certainly changes the culture and roster and could very well effect the chemistry of the Lakers, but there's no doubting that L.A. is a better team now. Perhaps, luckily for Minnesota, none of the Lakers' new acquisitions will play tonight. Sessions & Hill are expected to make their debuts Sunday vs. Utah & Eyenga will likely be sent to the D-League. The Lakers are 27-16 on the year and 18-2 at home this season. They'll also be going for a season-tying winning streak of 5-straight games as well as an 18th-straight win over our Minnesota Timberwolves (which is the longest active streak of one teams consecutive wins over another). The TWolves are back at .500 after a loss to Utah last night, now 22-22 as well as back to .500 on the road at 10-10. The Lakers are also 7-3 in their last 10, compared to Minnesota at 5-5. It's likely that with Derek Fisher no longer in L.A. & Ramon not scheduled to begin his career with the Lakers until Sunday, Steve Blake will likely get the start at point guard. The matchups will likely be as follows: Ridnour--Blake, Webster--Bryant, Johnson--World Peace, Love--Gasol, Pekovic--Bynum. Kevin Love went down with that thumb injury last night that made every Wolves fan watching move to the edge of their seat as we all know, without Love, this team's playoff hopes are grim. Following the game he had an X-ray on the thumb, but everything came back normal and they're reporting it as just a sprained thumb. He's listed as probable for the game, but I'd expect him to play after missing the last two matchups with the Lakers, the first with 'flu-like symptoms' & the other with back spasms. Michael Beasley warmed up yesterday, but didn't play after the pain was too great during warm ups. He bent his big toe back vs. the Suns on Monday and is listed as a gametime decision for this one. I'm sure there aren't many people that forget that last game vs. the Lakers, when we lost rookie sensation Ricky Rubio to a season-ending torn ACL injury. The Wolves went on to lose that one. The Lakers' last game was a 107-101 win over the New Orleans Hornets on Wednesday. The Lakers battled back from as many as seventeen down to force the overtime and outscored the Hornets 14-8 in overtime to escape with a 107-101 victory. Kobe had 33pts, Bynum added 25 & 18reb & Pau had 18pts, 10reb. If you've read our previous gameday posts this season vs. LAL or more importantly, if you've seen the games, you know the key to tonight's victory is limiting the Lakers' "Big Three" (Kobe, Pau & Bynum). If you can force just one of those guys to have an off-night, you have a VERY good chance of being victorious. They rely heavily on those three to score, rebound, distribute and of course with Pau & Bynum provide tenacious interior defense. No easy task, but the TWolves should be up for it. That's all for now, tonight's tip is a late 9:30pmCT, nonetheless, we'll still have your full gameday recap following the final horn--right here! Until then, thanks for reading HOWL and GO WOLVES! The Minnesota Timberwolves had their chances in this one, but their lack of ball control was there downfall tonight as Utah escaped with a 111-105 overtime win. The TWolves went on a 19-7 run over the final 4:49 of the fourth quarter to tie the game at 99. Pekovic grabbed an offensive rebound and had the putback to tie it. There was just 0.7 seconds to go after that and Utah came out of the timeout and ran a lob play to Paul Millsap who got the perfect pick and pass and was literally WIDE-OPEN underneath the basket, but his shot rolled off the rim and we went to overtime. The Jazz who were playing a back-to-back responded in overtime by outscoring Minnesota 12-6 for the W (Minnesota hadn't played since Monday vs. Phoenix). The Timberwolves move to 22-22 on the year and the Utah Jazz are now 21-22, so Minnesota remains in front of them in the Northwest Division and of course the Western Conference. If the Jazz & TWolves tie for a playoff spot (say the 8th seed), Utah now holds to tiebreaker as they've won the season series 2-1. Kevin Love went down multiple times with a thumb injury as it appeared he fell on it and it bent backwards. He refused to stay out of the game and went to the bench, got his thumb taped up and came back in for the final stretch. Reports say he'll have X-rays tomorrow to see if anything's broken. It is the thumb on his non-shooting left hand. Michael Beasley didn't play at all with a sore left toe that he bent back in a game vs. the Suns. He warmed up, but said it was too painful and sat this one out. No word as of right now as to whether either player will be able to play tomorrow vs. the Lakers. I had the pleasure of watching the Jazz broadcast of this one and all we got to hear was former Jazz forward, now broadcaster Matt Harping talk about how great Paul Millsap, how much more deserving Millsap was of being an All-Star, how Millsap is a 1st ballot hall-of-famer and how he's nominating Millsap for the Nobel Peace Prize. It got ridiculous. You'll see in a moment that Love had more rebounds and more points than Millsap. Millsap did miss that shot that would've won them the game, he did hit a big shot from the top of the key in overtime that sealed a Jazz victory, though. Let's take a look at some statistics from tonight's key players on each team...
Kevin Love had a solid game, he did take 23 shots to get his 25 points, but he hit the boards hard as well. Pek had another great game, also becoming somewhat routine, his biggest was the offensive board and putback that tied the game at 99. Luke Ridnour had a great game as well, his 13 assists are a season-high and the most he's had in a game with Minnesota. Hayward had a huge game for the Jazz as he led the team with 26 points and played 38 minutes off the bench. Harris dumped in 18, but did so on 5-of-14 shooting. If your looking through Millsap's numbers those 8 steals are not a misprint! He had 8 steals tonight! As far as the Millsap vs. Love goes I'll take Kevin Love 10 times out of 10, everyday of the week and twice on Sundays (whatever that means)! Let's take a look at some team statistics from tonight's game for each team...
The Jazz took A LOT of shots with 103 field-goals attempted! The also out-rebounded Minnesota by a +8 thanks to 16 from Favors, 13 from Big Al & 11 from Millsap. The Jazz had 13 steals and forced 18 Minnesota turnovers that led to 26 points. The Jazz beat Minnesota in the paint by a +16, on the break with a +10, off the bench with a +30. When you look at all of those stats, you realize that the way Minnesota played tonight--they didn't deserve to win!
Minnesota will be back in action tomorrow night in Los Angeles, at the Staples Center, vs. the Lakers. Stay tuned to our Injury Report section under the Team Report headliner for an update on Kevin Love and whether Michael Beasley will be available. That's all for now, thanks for reading HOWL and GO WOLVES! |
Cody D. AndersonA Wolves fan bringing you Gameday Recaps all season long! 2014-15 Game ArchivesGameday Archives
December 2015
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