With a TWolves victory tonight, they'll take the season series from the Los Angeles Clippers and move closer to a playoff seed in the Western Conference. This is the third of four meetings between these two teams this season--and so far Minnesota has come out victorious in those two matchups. Minnesota is currently 19-19 on the season and remains in 9th in the Western Conference (Houston & Denver are tied for the 7th seed, both at 21-17). The Timberwolves are also 10-10 at home. The Los Angeles Clippers are currently 22-13 on the year and sit in 3rd place in the West, they're also 10-8 on the road this season. Contrary to most matchups, the Timberwolves haven't relied on Kevin Love & Ricky Rubio to get them a W. Instead it has been the play of subs like Michael Beasley, Derrick Williams, Martell Webster & J.J. Barea. You've got to believe if the Timberwolves' bench continues to strong play and Kevin Love follows up a strong encore to his 42pts & 10rebs vs. Portland on Saturday--the Minnesota Timberwolves have a very good chance of taking down the Clippers...once again! Since that matchup vs. Clippers on 2/28 (when D-Will & Beas combined for 54pts), they've played three games and combined for 64pts. Here's links to both of the previous meetings between the Wolves & the Clippers... The TWolves' last matchup between these two comes April 12th in Minnesota to round out the season series. Since facing the Clippers (on 2/28), the TWolves have played three games and gone 1-2 in that time. They faced the Lakers the day after (2/29) and resulted in a 104-85 loss for Minnesota, the next day the played vs. the Suns (3/1) and lost 104-95, their last matchup came on Saturday vs. the Blazers--a 122-110 win for Minnesota. Since facing the TWolves (on 2/28), the Clippers have played three games as well and gone 2-1 in that time. They faced the Kings (3/1) and won 108-100, the faced the Suns the day after Minnesota did (3/2) and lost 81-78, finally they won yesterday vs. the Rockets and won in overtime, 105-103. In the Clippers' last game (that overtime win vs. Houston) it was a back-and-forth affair. In fact, that game saw 20 ties & 24 lead changes over the course of 53 minutes! Chris Paul scored on a drive and made a free throw in the final minute of overtime for the win. Paul finished with 28pts & 10ast, Foye added 15pts & Blake, Jordan & Williams all added 14pts each. Here's the recap of the TWolves' last game: a win over the Portland Trailblazers... According to AccusScore, the Minnesota Timberwolves are 58%-42% favorites in this matchup. AccuScore, if you're not familiar with it, is a simulation program in which they take more than 10,000 simulations for every NBA game for ESPN.com, each simulated one play at a time and a minimum of 10,000 times. It's mostly used for betting and projections. AccuScore also has the Wolves by 3.0 and a over/under of 197.5.
That's all for now, tipoff is set for 7pmCT and a full gameday recap can be found right here, on HOWL following the final horn. Until then, thanks for reading HOWL and GO WOLVES!
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The Timberwolves took control in the final quarter after three quarters of close, back-and-forth play between these two teams. The TWolves rode the hot hands of Kevin Love (13pts), Derrick Williams (9), & Martell Webster (8) in that fourth quarter to seal a 122-110 victory. They snapped a NASTY 16-game losing streak to the Portland Trailblazers, they moved ahead of the Blazers in the Western Conference, got back to .500 and dropped the Blazers to under .500 for the first time all season! Thanks to a huge night from Kevin Love the Timberwolves were able to finally break, not only a 16-game losing streak, but also snapped a 7-year losing streak (11 games) in Portland (last time the Wolves won at the Rose Garden: December 7, 2005). Minnesota is back at .500 on the season (19-19) and they're once again .500 on the road (9-9), which of course means they're also .500 at home (10-10). The Wolves jumped out to an early 40-28 after one quarter. Those 40 points in the first quarter is a new season-high for a first quarter. The Blazers battled back in the second quarter to cut the lead to just 1-point lead at the half: 61-60. Another close third quarter saw Minnesota up just two points heading into the final quarter: 84-82. Which lead me to think...which TWolves fourth quarter are we going to see in this final quarter? Apparently it was the one that outscored the opponent by 10pts (38-28) led by Love, Web & D-Will, the Wolves scored a new season-high in team points (previous was 120 vs. Houston on 1/30). The Wolves obviously didn't play the greatest defense as the 110 points is the second-most by a TWolves opponent this season (high is 111 vs. Chicago on 1/10). Let's take a look at some of tonight's key players for each team...
The Timberwolves got a great night from Kevin Love. He scored a season-high 42pts and was just one-point away from tying his career-high, that he set last season in Denver (43pts). There was plenty of talk before the game of how much Love has struggled playing in Portland in his NBA career, but he put those rumors to bed as he dumped in 42pts against a Blazers defense that just COULD NOT stop him! I think we can safely say that he also dismissed rumors that Aldridge is a superior power forward, as well! Webster scored a season-high 21pts (his previous season-high was 14 vs. the Lakers last week) (Martell's career-high is 28pts, which he's had twice in his career). Clearly Webster looked comfortable in his old surroundings (he spent his first 5 years in Portland after being selected 6th in the 2005 NBA Draft). Ricky had a solid night, he didn't shoot well...at all, but his 12ast certainly helped the team (10 of those came in the first half, which ties a franchise record record for most assists in a half--also held by Pooh Richardson [3/13/92] & Stephon Marbury, twice [12/20/97 & 4/18/97]). When you compare the starters' stats between these two teams, the Blazers obviously held the advantage (MIN: 74, POR: 91). A big part of that was obviously Batum, Wallace & Crawford! Those 91pts actually came from just four players--Camby didn't score. Wallace definitely had the best all-around game for Portland. He scored, defended, grabbed rebounds and played a game-high 44 minutes. After LA fouled-out in the final minutes of the fourth quarter and Wallace, then had to defend Love (who only scored 1pt [on a free-throw] after that). Let's look at a comparison of each team's statistics from tonight's game...
Minnesota's 54% is one of their best outputs of the season and their 52% from three-point land was the second-highest percentage of the season (the high being 58% vs. San Antonio on 1/2). This was also the Wolves' third win this season, when they've been out-rebounded in a game. Those high percentages made up for the 14 turnovers that Portland scored 19pts off of, being outscored on the break and being out-rebounded (they can't count on scoring 120+ points a game though, it was a good game, but certainly A LOT of negatives, as well.
That's all for now, sorry I didn't get this put up last night, just was not feeling well at all, though I did watch the game. The Wolves' next game is vs. the Clippers on Monday night at the Target Center, followed by a rematch of this one Wednesday night (also at the Target Center) vs. Portland. As always, thanks for reading HOWL and GO WOLVES! Tonight the Minnesota Timberwolves will be facing the Portland Trailblazers, in their first of three meetings this season. With a win tonight, the Trailblazers will extend their winning streak over Minnesota to an astounding 17 games! The TWolves have also lost 11 straight games at the Rose Garden--the last time Minnesota won in Portland was December 7, 2005! With a loss tonight the Minnesota Timberwolves will move to 9th place in the Western Conference and drop Portland to 10th. The Blazers have lost 8 of their last 12 games--including their last 2. With a loss tonight the Blazers will also fall below .500 for the first time this entire season! The Timberwolves are currently 18-19 on the season and 8-9 on the road. The Blazers are 18-18 currently and have been much better at home this season: 13-6. Both teams are looking to snap two game losing streaks. The Timberwolves are coming off a loss to the Phoenix Suns. The game was kept close through the first half, but since it was the final game of a back-to-back-to-back game set the TWolves clearly looked fatigued and the Suns' hot shooting carried them to a W over Minnesota. Here's a full gameday recap of that one. The Trailblazers played on Thursday night vs. the Miami Heat, the outcome, was a 107-93 loss for the Blazers. LeBron James & Dwyane Wade carried the Heat as they combined for 71pts, 13rebs, 16ast, 8stls & 2blks. The Blazers jumped out to an early 14-6 lead, but the Heat quickly got things going and took the lead, anytime the Blazers got close again LBJ & Wade would go on a run. One key was after the Heat allowed Aldridge to score 12pts in the first quarter, they held him to just 8pts over the final three quarters. LA finished with 20pts, 6rebs, 4ast & 1stl; Crawford (who now starts at point guard) had 18pts & 4ast; and Batum (who starts at SG) had 17pts, 5rebs, 2ast, 3stls & 2blks. Accuscore has the Portland Trailblazers as the favorite: 68-32. Portland by 6.0 and an over/under of 194.5. Also, I was browsing through some stats on Accuscore and they have the Timberwolves winning 32 games this season, with a 28.1% chance of making the playoffs. Portland is currently averaging the 5th best offense in the NBA with 98.2ppg. They also allow have the 11th best defense in the NBA (based on points allowed) with 93.8. However, over their last 4 games they're allowing 102.8 points to opponents (games vs. LAL, SAS, DEN & MIA), they've won 1 of those 4 games (a 137-97 win over San Antonio). The Trailblazers' current starting lineup includes...
Obviously if the Wolves start their usual lineup of two point guards there will be matchup problems-galore! Crawford is 6-5, Batum 6-8 & Wallace 6-7. If 6-2 Ridnour has to match up against the versatile swingman Batum, Batum could have a big game!
If you remember this summer, the Wolves were seriously considering signing guard Jamal Crawford, instead they signed guard J.J. Barea, who has played just 20 of the Wolves' 37 games this season as he's dealt with a number of different injuries. Don't expect him to play tonight either, though. J.J. is currently nursing a strained right calf. I definitely think the Wolves should've signed Crawford this offseason (he could've easily been the team's starting shooting guard and been the shooter Minnesota desperately needs/needed this season). Crawford is averaging 14.5ppg, 4apg, 2rpg while J.J. is averaging 10ppg, 3.2apg, 2.4rpg. Crawford has also found his way into the starting lineup as the Blazers' starting point guard, while J.J. has come off the bench and has had 'sporadic' performances...at best! J.J. Barea is likely out for Minnesota tonight, being the only injured Timberwolf. For the Blazers, they may be without third string center Kurt Thomas as he's got a concussion and didn't play Thursday vs. Miami. It's not a big loss for the Blazers as they recently resigned Joel Pryzbilla to back up Camby at center. Your matchup of the night? Aldridge vs. Love. Love is looking to turn things around as he's averaging just 29.9% shooting from the field, 17ppg & 11rpg. Love's looking to climb out of that slump and return to form--and there's no doubt that if the Timberwolves want to contend for a playoff spot they'll need him to play like he did earlier in the first half of the season. Fatigue and injuries have slowed him down recently. He was sick vs. the Lakers on Wednesday & the night before he suffered a some bruised ribs after an elbow from behind courtesy of Randy Foye. Aldridge is also the top player for his team. He averages a team-high 22.1ppg as well as 8.2rpg & 1.0spg. The Timberwolves & Trailblazers will meet again Wednesday (3/7) in Minnesota and finally in Portland (4/1). These are two teams that are just barely out of a playoff spot, so this is an important win for either team! That's all for now, thanks for reading HOWL and GO WOLVES! The key stat from tonight's game? The Phoenix Suns were playing on 8 days rest, while the Wolves were playing on...0 days rest! Nonetheless, the Minnesota Timberwolves had an uncharacteristic game. Most games the Wolves come out and their starters are unable to get the job done, sometimes even falling down by double-digits within the first quarter, however tonight's first half was where Minnesota excelled. The game was close through the first half. The first quarter ended with Minnesota up 1; 23-22 and the half came to an end as Minnesota led 28-24. The opening quarter was led by Ricky Rubio (7pts) & Kevin Love (8pts). In the second quarter it was Pekovic (8pts) & Webster (6pts). However, the Suns' Marcin Gortat & Steve Nash weren't going to let Minnesota waltz away with this one. At the half, the Wolves were lead by Kevin Love: 10pts, 3rebs, 1ast, 1stl, 5-11 FG; Nikola Pekovic: 10pts, 4rebs, 4-7FG, 2-2 FT; & Luke Ridnour: 9pts, 2rebs, 4ast, 2stls, 3-4 FG, 3-3 FT. The Suns' Gortat & Steve Nash lead the Suns at the half. Gortat: 12pts, 2rebs, 1stl, 4-6 FG, 4-4 FT; & Nash: 8pts, 3rebs, 7ast, 1stl, 4-5 FG. Minneosta also finished the first half with 6 turnovers--all of which came in the first quarter! Both teams shot a high percentage in the first half, Minnesota at 50% & Phoenix at 54%. However, both teams are usually known as good three-point shooting teams, but neither was able to hit a three-point shot in the first half. Then...came the second half and the third quarter was where the Phoenix Suns ran away with this one. The Suns outscored Minnesota 23-31 in the third and 21-27 in the fourth as they sealed a 9-point win over the TWolves. Ultimately the Phoenix Suns' hot shooting carried through in the second half...and the Minnesota Timberwolves' shooting...did not, not hard to see why though as we come back to the Wolves playing the last game of a back-to-back-to-back, while the Suns have had 8 days rest! Let's take a look at some key players' individual stats from tonight's game...
Kevin Love had a pretty good return, but to score 23 points on 25 attempts clearly isn't an efficient shooting night. Looking at the full team stats from tonight, I believe Luke Ridnour was the Wolves' best player tonight. He shot a high percentage, he led the team in assists, played good defense, had just one turnover and played a team-high 43 minutes! For the Suns, Hill came alive in the second half and was a big key to the Suns pulling away in the third quarter. After just 5 points in the first half, Hill had 10pts in the third quarter and another 5 in the fourth to finish with 20 on the night. Pek vs. Gorat was certainly a good battle. Gortat finished with 3 more points and shot a higher percentage, but it was a real close matchup. Pek did have an advantage on the glass, which was something Marcin highlighted in a post-game interview, saying he struggled to box Pek out, allowing him to grab 9 rebounds (6 of which came on the offensive end). Gortat & Pek have known each other for a number of years, Gortat said after the game that the first time they played against each other (over in Europe) Pek was about as skinny/had the same build as Gortat does now! Then, of course, Steve Nash! Nash had a phenomenal game. He had 10 of his 17 assists in the second half and flirted with a triple-double (just two rebounds away). Nash definitely got the better of Rubio in this matchup (Ricky finished with 13pts, 2rebs, 2ast, 2stls in 31 minutes). Let's take a look at the team stats from tonight's game...
The Timberwolves shot a season-low 8% from three (the one three coming from Kevin Love in the third quarter). They got beat on the boards with a +7. Steve Nash had three more assists himself than the Timberwolves. The Wolves got beat in the paint with a +8 and the Suns' bench out-scored Minnesota's 18-28, a +10 (the Wolves only played three subs: Webster [9], Williams [6] & Beasley [3]).
The Timberwolves' 12 steals matches a season-high (also had 12 steals vs. the Hawks on Jan. 14th). The Suns' hot shooting was what won this one. They didn't make any threes in the first half either, but they were able to connect on three in second half and they made 8 more field goals on 7 less attempts when compared to Minnesota. That's all for now, thanks for reading HOWL and GO WOLVES! The Minnesota Timberwolves are looking to finish this back-to-back-to-back game set with 2 wins and not 2 losses. They of course beat the Clippers on Tuesday night, but fell well-short yesterday vs. the Lakers.
Kevin Love was out for last night's game vs. the Lakers with 'flu-like symptoms'. There's a very good chance he'll play tonight and the TWolves definitely need their all-star! Honestly, without him, Minnesota isn't a playoff-contender (yes, Minnesota is a playoff contender this season--just one game out of the 8th seed in the Western Conference). If Love is again not able to play, expect Derrick Williams to start once again at power forward. The Timberwolves are currently at .500 on the season overall and on the road. They're 18-18 overall and 8-8 on the road. The Phoenix Suns are 14-20 on the year and 7-9 at home this season. The Suns continue to deal with the Steve Nash trade rumors. It's nothing new though, it's a cloud that's hung over this team for the past two seasons, since Amar'e Stoudemire left via free agency and the Suns became a lottery team. Nash is adamant he wants to remain in Phoenix for the remainder of the season, but like most, I believe the Suns need to trade him away to get some young pieces in return and begin the rebuilding process. I am not saying, however, that the Suns are a team you can simply overlook and expect an easy-win (should never do that, of course). The Wolves will look to snap an 8-game losing streak to the Suns tonight as well as a 4-win streak for Phoenix at home vs. Minnesota. In fact, the Suns' last loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves was on January 16, 2009; a 105-103 TWolves win. Clearly, the marquee matchup of the night will be rookie Ricky Rubio & the veteran and two-time MVP Steve Nash. Two play-making point guards looking to get their team the W. Obviously Nash is the superior player mainly because of his shooting ability! There is one other matchup I'm excited to see, as well, though and that's Nikola Pekovic vs. Marcin Gortat. The Pek-secutioner vs. the Polish Hammer! Physicality vs. Physicality! Two big bruisers going head-to-head. I'm honestly more excited to watch these two go at it, than Nash & Ricky! Nash of course leads the NBA in assists per game with 10.9 while also scoring 13.6ppg. Marcin Gortat is another key piece, he averages a team-high 15.9ppg, 10.4rpg & 1.6bpg. Jared Dudley is their only other double-digit scorer with 11.7ppg and a team-high 1.0spg. The starting lineups will likely be: Rubio vs. Nash, Ridnour vs. Dudley, Johnson vs. Grant Hill, Love or D-Will vs. Channing Frye & Pekovic vs. Gortat. Accuscore has the Phoenix Suns as the 52-48 favorites and the Suns by 4.5! You'd have to think that's based off of Love not playing...I'm not sure, though! Beyond K-Love, J.J. Barea may not be able to play. J.J.'s listed as doubtful for this one after straining his right calf in last night's game vs. the Lakers, after playing just 10 minutes. If Barea isn't able to play, expect Luke to still start, but to come out in the first quarter a bit sooner, so he's able to relieve Rubio as the backup point guard. That'll mean increased time for Martell Webster and perhaps a couple minutes for Wayne Ellington. This will be the first of three meetings between these two teams. The TWolves will be back in Phoenix on March 12th and the Suns will visit the Target Center on April 9th. Looking ahead, the Timberwolves will have just one day off following this back-to-back-to-back game set. They'll have Friday off before travelling to the Rose Garden for a game on Saturday vs. the Trailblazers. That's all for now, tipoff is set for 8pmCT from the U.S. Airways Center in Phoenix. A full gameday recap can be found here following the final horn. 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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