The Minnesota Timberwolves were coming off a narrow loss to the Sacramento Kings last night as they let the Kings come back from a double digit Wolves lead to take the game in the second half. Tonight, the Wolves made sure that there would be no comeback for the Suns as they simply spanked Phoenix in a game that was really only close, early in that first quarter. The Timberwolves got going early thanks to Andrei Kirilenko. AK scored 11 of his 20 points in that opening quarter. The Wolves also looked to exploit the advantage in the paint. The Suns were without centers Marcin Gortat & Jermaine O'Neal. Because of that, 6'9" Luis Scola started at center. Things really picked up in the 'middle quarters' (2nd & 3rd) as the Timberwolves' bench really got going. Chase Budinger had 8 points in the second quarter, while Stiemsma added 6 for a 36-point Wolves second quarter to take a large 67-39 lead at halftime. Dante Cunningham & Andrei Kirilenko took over in the third quarter. Dante scored 12 of his 18 in the third, while AK added another 7. The Suns tried to go on a few runs during that third quarter, but couldn't materialize anything to really get them within striking distance. After three quarters, Phoenix still trailed 95-69 and the Wolves were well on their way to a second win over the Suns this season as well as a 24th of the season. With tonight's win, Rick Adelman now has 995 career wins and he'll have another sixteen games to get them. Can the Wolves go 5-11 down the stretch? If they continue to play like they did tonight, 5-11 is the very least they might achieve. The inconsistency from game to game shouldn't give you a lot of hope that this can carry over. I'm not trying to be negative, but it's certainly been a long season. Let's take a look at tonight's box score... If you're a regular to 'HOWL!' you probably noticed that we've changed our recaps. Instead of having top performer & team statistic sections, instead I'm just going to give you the full box score and point out some key stats and some top performers from it...
I talked in the gameday preview about how, if the Wolves wanted to find success tonight and in these next couple weeks, they desperately needed Andrei Kirilenko & Luke Ridnour to find their offensive games. Tonight they did just that and the result was a blowout win. Kirilenko had his first double digit scoring night of the season since returning from that calf injury that kept him out for a lengthy period. Ridnour added 12 points, but was especially impressive dishing the basketball. With the Wolves starting Rubio & Luke together in the backcourt, Ridnour is usually asked to be more of a scorer, however tonight because of all the 'hot hands' out there, he got a chance to tap into his distributor abilities. Ricky Rubio had another big all-around game. His stat-sheet stuffing is becoming a regularity and that's especially exciting for this young Timberwolves team. The most impressive tonight was the production from the bench. The Wolves bench scored 58 points and were led by two players usually known more for their defensive capabilities: Dante Cunningham & Greg Stiemsma. Stiemsma finished the night with his first NBA career double-double. He also set new career-highs in points (14) and rebounds (10). The Suns were without two of their starters: Marcin Gortat & Jared Dudley. Marcin is done for the season with a foot injury and Jared was dealing with a flu-like illness. Without them, this is a Phoenix team that (unlike the Suns teams of past) struggles on the offensive end. Tonight, that was clear given Phoenix's 37.9% FG, 18.2% 3PT & 47.6% FT. It was just a rough night for the Suns who had to rely heavily on Goran Dragic & Luis Scola for the majority of their offense. The Wolves are now 24-43 on the year. They'll have tomorrow off, before returning to action on Sunday, back at the Target Center when they'll host the struggling Chicago Bulls. Thanks for reading HOWL and GO WOLVES!
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The Minnesota Timberwolves wrap up their three game road trip on Friday night in Phoenix. They've certainly had their offensive struggles these past two games. In Memphis on Monday, the Wolves set a new season-low for field goal percentage: 33.7% (29-86). They followed that up Thursday night by setting a new season-low in three-point percentage: 5.3% (1-19). The Wolves are the worst three-point shooting team in the NBA at 29.4%. Tonight, they'll be facing the second-worst three-point shooting team at 32.4%. With Minnesota's loss last night in Sacramento, they're now 13th in the Western Conference at 23-43 on the year. The Suns have the same number of wins, but have played three more games than the Wolves at 23-46. The Suns are tied with the Hornets for the worst record in the Western Conference. As of today, the Wolves are 1.5 games ahead of those two teams. The losses hurt now, but the one silver lining will be when the lotto balls start tumbling this summer. However, given the Wolves' draft history or the assumption that they'll trade the pick, it's hard to remain optimistic. While the Wolves have struggled, the Suns are in the same boat. Both teams are in a tailspin as the season winds down, but the encouraging news is that somebody has to win! Will it be the Wolves? The Timberwolves have lost nine straight on the road, two games in a row, twelve of fifteen overall and seventeen of their last eighteen, away from Target Center. The Suns have lost five of their last six and are averaging 91.8ppg on 27.6% 3PT as well as 18.5 turnovers in those six games. These two teams have met twice already this season and have split those games. The most recent meeting also came in Phoenix on Feb. 26th when the Wolves lost 83-84 in overtime. The Wolves continue to take small steps toward getting healthy. Chase Budinger returned to the court for the first time since Nov. 10th after missing extended time with that torn lateral meniscus. He played 18 minutes yesterday, but it remains to be seen if he'll play right away in back-to-back games. Kevin Love (hand), Brandon Roy (knees) and Malcolm Lee (knee/hip) all remain out. The Suns are with some injuries of their own--particularly to their big men. Channing Frye has been out all season with a heart condition, but he remains confident he'll return next season. Marcin Gortat recently suffered a foot injury that will now keep him out for the remainder of the season. His backup, Jermaine O'Neal has been starting at center, but he suffered a calf strain in the Suns' last game and his status for this game is currently unknown, though it sounds likely he'll sit this one out. Let's take a look at tonight's probable starting lineups...
With Jermaine O'Neal out, it's likely that Luis Scola will take over starting center duties (though the Suns could potentially start Hamed Haddadi to match up better size-wise with Pekovic). Scola has had plenty of success against the Wolves, in his last 12 games vs. the Wolves, he's averaging 18.6ppg & 7.6rpg.
Since the last meeting back in late-February, the Suns are now starting former Wolf Wesley Johnson at shooting guard. He had a good game in that overtime win vs. the Wolves and I'm sure he'll be looking for another solid outing against his former squad. The Wolves will need to take advantage of Nikola Pekovic's advantage in the paint. Without Marcin Gortat or Jermaine O'Neal the Suns will be relying upon 6'9" Scola and 7'2" Haddadi to contain Minnesota's bruising big man. The Wolves are still waiting for Andrei Kirilenko's game to return to form, he's struggled since coming back from his calf strain, but I don't doubt he'll be stuffing the stat sheet in the very near future. Luke Ridnour has also struggled lately as his offense has gone M.I.A. Getting these key players back on track will be key in any kind of Wolves win or success for the remaining games. Tipoff is again a late 9pmCT. This one will be played in Phoenix at US Airways Center, enjoy the game, thanks for reading HOWL and GO WOLVES! The Minnesota Timberwolves led by as many as 12 points in this one, but a Tyreke Evans-led Sacramento Kings squad rallied back in the second half to grab a 98-101 victory. Tyreke Evans scored 19 of his 21 points in the second half, including 11 in the fourth quarter to lead his team to their second-straight victory. After three quarters the Wolves were down 77-79. The biggest key to this Kings W tonight was that they never let things get completely out of control. Sacramento was able to keep the Wolves within striking distance as 12 was the biggest Wolves lead of the game. Tyreke Evans took over in the final quarter and got pretty much whatever he wanted. His 11 fourth quarter points were an array of big layups at the rim. He got there by using his physicality to simply overpower the Wolves smaller guards. With just four and a half minutes to go in the fourth, the Wolves found themselves down 89-97. Then, Ricky Rubio got going, over the next three minutes, Ricky scored 8-straight points for the Wolves to make it 97-99 with 1:36 to play. Isaiah Thomas missed a three-pointer on the other end and the Wolves then had a chance to tie it up with just over one minute to play. Rubio missed an open 17-footer on a dish from Cunningham, Patterson rebounded and Evans capitalized on the other end with a short 7-foot jump shot. The Kings were now up 97-101 with 41 seconds to play. Rick Adelman took a full timeout. On the ensuing possession, Rubio missed a three-pointer, but Pek rebounded the ball and was fouled by DeMarcus Cousins. That sent Pek to the line for two free throws, he missed the first, but made the second to make it 98-101 with 34 seconds to play--Kings ball. Tyreke Evans made a lazy pass on the other end and the Wolves had a chance to win it with just under 10 seconds to play. Rubio quickly pushed the ball up the court, Rubio was trapped on the left wing, but he was able to get it to Ridnour who touch passed it to Dante Cunningham who then had to throw up a desperation 25-footer at the buzzer that didn't hit rim but all glass. The worst part about the final sequence was that the Wolves had two 20 second timeouts remaining. They could've called a timeout, got their three-point shooters back in the game and had a much better chance. You've got to remember, the Wolves hit just one three-pointer tonight and that was courtesy of Chase Budinger. He was on the bench along with the Wolves' other good three shooters: Derrick Williams & J.J. Barea. You've got to think, having J.J., Derrick or Chase throwing up a three would've been better than Dante. If they had taken a timeout and got their three-point shooters back in the game, would it have made a difference? The Wolves were 1-for-18 at that point and finished the game 1-for-19 (5.3%). Chase did make his return to the court tonight after a lengthy absence because of that torn lateral meniscus. He came off the bench and finished with 9pts, 4reb & 1stl in 18 minutes. He went 3-of-7 from the field, 1-of-3 from deep and 2-for-2 from the line. We'll have to wait and see if the Wolves will play him right away in a back-to-back situation, tomorrow in Phoenix. Minnesota is now 23-43 on the season and with Sacramento's win, the Wolves are now 13th in the Western Conference (previously 12th). It sucks now, but the silver lining will be in June with the Wolves quite possibly having the higher draft pick. Tonight's top performers...
The Wolves got a big game from Nikola Pekovic. He continues to have big games against the Kings and DeMarcus Cousins. Cousins (as usual) played limited minutes (28) because of foul trouble, but he still finished with a 15 & 14. It was good to see Pek get back to 'having his way' in the paint and getting a lot of easy buckets. He scored 9 quick points within the first 4.5 minutes of the first quarter and finished with 11 of his 18 in that opening quarter. He's struggled a bit since coming back from that abdomen injury and appears to be getting his conditioning back up (he played a team-high 34 minutes tonight). Rubio struggled shooting the ball (as usual) tonight, but was still able to stuff the stat sheet. With Kevin Love out, there are a lot of rebounds out there, Rubio is one player who works extra hard on the boards to help try and pick up that slack. As such, it makes him a viable triple double threat every time he steps on the court. The Kings' starting backcourt found great success against the Wolves tonight. Thomas got going early and Evans took over late for this Kings victory. To many times this season, the Wolves' backcourt players haven't been up to par defensively. Certainly something that needs to be addressed this offseason...and needed to be addressed last offseason...and the offseason before that... Team Stats...
The Wolves shot 5.3% from three...yeah...that's a new season-low. They also shot a season-high 98 field goals. The Wolves' three-point shooting and the defense against Sacramento (allowing them to shoot 53.3% from the field) was the key to this loss. The Wolves had an amazing advantage in second chance points--it's not above, but the Wolves held a 21-0 advantage! They also held the Kings to a season-low (for a Wolves opponent) 4 offensive rebounds. Add to that, the Wolves' 46-24 advantage in bench production. Unfortunately, the Kings' high shooting percentage aided by their 28 fast break points helped the Kings steal this W.
The Wolves will be back in action tomorrow night as they'll take on the Suns in Phoenix to complete this three-game road trip. Stay tuned for the preview, thanks for reading HOWL and GO WOLVES! The Minnesota Timberwolves continue their three game road trip with their second stop in Sacramento on Thursday night. The big headline heading into this game will be the return of swingman Chase Budinger. Chase has played only six games this season and he'll finally play in his seventh assuming the morning shootaround goes well. He'll provide depth behind Kirilenko at small forward and give a bit more size at shooting guard behind 6-foot starter Ridnour and 6-6, but physically weak Shved. The biggest concern for Budinger will be conditioning, I'd expect to see him play about 20 minutes in this one. Perhaps his return can boost these lowly Wolves. A Wolves team that hasn't won on the road for over 5 weeks. Losers of 8-straight away from Target Center and 16 of their last 17 road games, the Wolves may be able to find success against the Kings. The Wolves have won the other two meetings this season. Both of those coming in the month of November. Nov. 2nd a 92-80 win at the Target Center & Nov. 27th a 97-89 win in Sacramento. The Wolves will look to make it a third straight win assuming they can slow down a surging Kings team. Sacramento is coming off an impressive 116-101 over the Los Angeles Clippers on Tuesday. The Kings outscored the Clippers 38-18 in the fourth quarter and held LA to just five field goals in the fourth. Meanwhile, the Kings shot 50.7% from the field in this game and went 14-for-28 from deep. The Kings have also won 6 of their last 9 home games. Sacramento is averaging 113.1ppg in their last 11 contests and have gone 5-6 over that time. If the Kings were to win this game, it would put them ahead of the Wolves in the standings. The Kings are currently ranked 13th in the Western Conference at 24-44, while the Wolves are 12th at 23-42. It'd be good come summer when the lotto balls are tumbling, but not so good right now when you're looking to stay competitive in a dismal, dismal season. Let's take a look at the probable starting lineups for this one...
Isaiah Thomas has had plenty of success vs. the Timberwolves in the past four meetings of these teams. Thomas is averaging 16.8ppg and has hit 10-of-21 three point attempts. Having Ricky Rubio in the lineup and checking him on the defensive end, the TWolves should fair slightly better in this one.
To be completely honest, I'm just really looking forward to seeing Chase back on the court. I know we all are, tipoff is set for 9pmCT for this one, enjoy the game, thanks for reading HOWL and GO WOLVES! The Minnesota Timberwolves just played one of their worst offensive games of the season. The Wolves were locked down defensively and dominated in the paint en-route to a 10-straight loss to the Memphis Grizzlies. The TWolves played well through the first half of this one. It was a 6-point game after two quarters as the Wolves trailed 39-45. Then came the third quarter and like many second halves this season, the TWolves fell flat on their faces. Minnesota shot just 4-of-21 in the quarter and finished with 14 points. Meanwhile, Memphis went off for 29 to take a 21-point lead through three quarters. Conley led the Grizz in that quarter, where he had 8 of his 20 points, while Prince added 6 & Bayless, Z-Bo & Gasol all had 4. The Wolves have had a few big comebacks this season, but I think we all felt that it was over after quarter number three. Such was the case, the TWolves did outscore Memphis 24-18 in the final quarter, but Lionel Hollins (Memphis Head Coach) left his starters in the game up until the final three minutes to make absolutely certain his team secured the victory. Memphis came into the game riding a two-game losing streak. Tonight, the Wolves' leading scorer was Alexey Shved, who had 12 off the bench. Twelve points is the lowest leading scorer for the TWolves during the regular season, this year. Cunningham & Kirilenko both had 12 in a preseason game on October 19th in Chicago. The lowest leading scorer in a regular season game before tonight was 13 apiece from Kevin Love & Alexey Shved on January 2nd in an 84-106 loss in Utah. Let's take a look at some of tonight's top performers...
No Minnesota Timberwolf really turned in a stellar game. Gelabale & Shved both had decent scoring nights (for bench players), but not the kind of outings that can lead a team to victory. When no on in the starting lineup scores or rebounds in double digits or Ricky Rubio finishes with just 2 assists, you just know, it wasn't your night. The Grizzlies on the other hand, had just one starter (Tony Allen) not score in double figures (finished with 7 points). Jerryd Bayless even had 15 points off the bench. Bad defense, worst offense and you're going to lose by 15 points to one of the Western Conferences best teams. Team Stats...
The TWolves shot a season-low 33.7% FG, their 29 made field goals is tied for the second worst on the year, their 14 assists ties a season-worst as does their 77 total points. The TWolves were dominated in the paint, by a +22. They allowed the Grizzlies to get easy shots and couldn't return that favor on the other end. If you look at the non-shooting stats, the Wolves didn't play a terrible game. They were close on the boards, they didn't cough up a lot of turnovers and they even got some fast break production.
Hopefully, Minnesota can bounce back on Thursday night when they face the Kings in Sacramento. That's all for now, thanks for reading HOWL and GO WOLVES! The Minnesota Timberwolves are playing yet another back-to-back. Tonight is the second of two games as they'll take on the Grizzlies in Memphis at the FedEx Forum. The Wolves are coming off a two-point win over the New Orleans Hornets last night at Target Center. Tonight, Minnesota will be seeking consecutive wins for the first time since Dec. 7-15th when they won four-straight. The likelihood of stringing back-to-back wins together and a win over the Grizzlies will certainly be an uphill battle. The Grizz are currently riding a 7-game home winning streak and even more impressive, 9-straight overall vs. the Minnesota Timberwolves. In fact, the Wolves haven't beaten the Grizzlies since February 6, 2010 and they haven't beaten them in Memphis since January 6, 2009. During Memphis' 7-game home winning streak, they're holding opponents to just 44.6% FG. During Memphis' 9-game winning streak over Minnesota, they're allowing the TWolves just 86.8 points per game on 40.5% FG. Not only have they held the Wolves to low scoring nights, but 1 of their last 33 opponents at FedEx Forum have scored over 100 points! The Wolves are feeling good after that narrow victory over the Hornets on Sunday. The return of Kirilenko & Pekovic boosted them to a win. Pek grabbed a key offensive rebound in the final 20 seconds and hit two free throws, while Kirilenko came up with a big block on Eric Gordon, came up with the rebound and then was fouled with just 5 seconds to play. He then went 1 of 2 at the line and the Wolves got one more defensive stop on a Roger Mason three-pointer for the slim victory. Both Kirilenko & Pekovic said they would be playing today in Memphis, but we'll obviously know for sure in a few hours. The Wolves continue to play on without Kevin Love (hand), Brandon Roy (knees) and Malcolm Lee (knee/hip). Chase Budinger (knee) is very close to a return to the court. Chase won't play tonight, but it's sounding as though he could debut later this week. The Wolves play tonight (Monday) and then don't play again until Thursday in Sacramento and then again, Friday in Phoenix. It's sounding very likely that he'll return during one of those two games! The Grizzlies have had a few minor injuries these past couple weeks. Darrell Arthur is likely out for this one as he continues to recover from a neck/back injury. He's said he won't rush back and didn't play at all last week. It's unknown if he'll be sitting this one out or not. Tony Wroten was battling some migraine headaches and didn't play in Memphis last game (on Saturday), he's likely to play. Both Ed Davis & Austin Daye were battling some illnesses this weekend, but both still played on Saturday night, I'd expect them to be available to go tonight as well. Let's take a look at tonight's probable starting lineups...
The big concern will be the big guys in the paint. Zach Randolph & Marc Gasol are now (with Rudy Gay gone) the undeniable centerpieces to this Grizzlies team. With Gay gone it also makes the Grizzlies much more of a halfcourt offense. They'll set up and run plays to get their bigs easy buckets. The matchup I'm most concerned about is Derrick Williams & Zach Randolph. Randolph is a very talented offensive big man that's a 20-10 threat every time he steps out on the court. Williams has to find a way to slow him down and try to match his physicality level. Get low when he starts to back you down and then get ready for him to turn and let loose with a fadeaway jumper.
I'm also looking forward to the Prince-Kirilenko & the Pekovic-Gasol matchups. All four players are very talented NBA players and simply put, it should be some good basketball to watch. Tipoff is set for 7pmCT from Memphis, enjoy the game, thanks for reading HOWL and GO WOLVES! The TWolves finally got Andrei Kirilenko & Nikola Pekovic back from the inactive list and that coupled with Derrick Williams' best offensive game of his NBA career, the Wolves snatched their 23rd win of the season with a narrow 2-point W. Derrick Williams led the charge with a career-high 28 points to lead (now) eleven guys to the W. Andrei was back after missing 8-straight games and Pekovic after seven-straight. Not only did they return and start, they both made some very key plays in the final minute of action... With 18 seconds to play, the Wolves were down by one (94-95). Derrick Williams drove the lane and missed the layup. Dante nearly came down with the rebound, but it was tipped out to the middle of the key and Nikola Pekovic snatched it over three Hornet rebounders. He was fouled and sent to the line. He stepped up and hit both free throws to give the Wolves a 96-95 lead. Out of a timeout, the Hornets looked to take advantage of the Eric Gordon-Luke Ridnour mismatch. Gordon drove the left side of the lane and looked to have a layup right over Ridnour, but instead, Kirilenko came across the lane for a big block. He was fouled and sent to the line for two free throws with just over 5 seconds to play. He went 1 of 2 at the line to give the Wolves the 97-95 advantage. The Hornets took their last timeout. Out of the timeout, Roger Mason inbounded the ball, slid to the corner and got it right back for a last second three and the win. He missed, the Wolves rebounded and time expired for Minnesota's 23rd win of the season. Some big free throws from Pek & a big block from AK were key in this narrow victory. It was definitely strange to finally see them back out there. They'll both likely play again tomorrow in Memphis. After Monday's game in Memphis the Wolves don't play again until Thursday (and then again on Friday) the hope is that Chase Budinger will return for one of those two games. The Wolves are getting healthy and should make for some much more exciting Minnesota Timberwolves basketball in the last month of the season. Let's take a look at tonight's top performers...
A big game from Derrick Williams who continues to provide a consistent scoring threat for this undermanned Minnesota team. Some of the scoring responsibility will be lifted as Kirilenko & Pekovic get their conditioning back 'up to snuff', but his continued improvement and steady play has been fun to watch this past month and a half. Ricky Rubio had a good night, he didn't have the big assist, rebound or steal numbers, but he did have a good scoring night and did so efficiently shooting 7-for-11 on the night. It was great to have Pek back in the lineup and finally, once again have a reliable scoring threat in the low-post. Williams is becoming a great scorer, but his offense relies on long-range/mid-range jumpers and slicing to the rim for easy baskets. Vasquez had a pretty good night. He did score 24, but took 25 shots to get there and unfortunately finished with more turnovers (6) than assists (5). If I had a vote, I'd name him the NBA's Most Improved Player of the Year. Lopez & Davis had success in the previous meetings against the Wolves and tonight was more of the same. Davis averages just under 8 rebounds a game and Lopez just over 5 rebounds a game, so to allow those two to dominate you on the boards is not very encouraging. Team Stats...
The TWolves shot their second-best percentage from the field in this one, while also taking the least amount of field goal attempts on the year. The Wolves were hammered on the boards, especially in offensive rebounds. The Hornets (who aren't really a great rebounding team) absolutely dominated the glass. The Wolves made up for that advantage on the boards and the Hornets' +12 advantage in points in the paint, by getting to the line 11 more times than their opponent and getting 8 extra points at the line.
The Wolves will be back in action tomorrow night when they face the Grizzlies in Memphis at the FedEx Forum. Stay tuned for a preview of that one tomorrow morning, until then, thanks for reading HOWL and GO WOLVES! The Minnesota Timberwolves continue to struggle as they play on with just nine healthy players, but they're hoping a meeting with the New Orleans Hornets will give them a little boost. The Wolves have met New Orleans three times this season and gone 2-1 in those matchups. This will be the fourth and final meeting of the season. The first meeting came on Dec. 14th in New Orleans. The Wolves won that one 113-102 as Nikola Pekovic erupted for 31pts, 5reb, 1ast, 1stl. Kirilenko added 21pts, 11reb, 2ast, 1stl, 1blk. Austin Rivers had 27pts & 3ast for the Hornets, while Ryan Anderson added 20pts, 7reb, 1ast, 2stls. The second matchup came on Jan. 11th in New Orleans. The Wolves lost that one 92-104. Pekovic had 18pts, 6reb, 2ast, 2blks & Kirilenko had 17pts, 5reb, 2ast, 2stls and 1blk. Greivis Vasquez had 18pts, 4reb, 13ast & Eric Gordon finished with 16pts, 1reb & 3ast. Their most recent matchup came on February 2nd at the Target Center. The Wolves won that one 115-86. Dante Cunningham was the star of that game as he finished with 18pts, 4reb, 1ast & 2stls and set a new franchise-record with the most field goals made in a game without a miss (9-9 FG). Pek added 14pts, 7reb, 1stl & 1blk. The Hornets were led by their big men: Anthony Davis had 18pts, 4reb, 1ast, 2stls & 1blk and Robin Lopez had 16pts, 2reb & 1stl. In all three of these games, Nikola Pekovic & Andrei Kirilenko were a big part of their success. Unfortunately their status for tonight's game is questionable. They've both missed a big chunk of games and the Wolves have not faired well without them. We'll have an update on those two prior to tonight's tip, both in this post and on our Injury Report. Chase Budinger has been cleared by doctors, but has yet to participate in a practice, simply because the Wolves haven't held any. For all I know, he could play tonight or not for another week or more...I have no idea. Kevin Love, Brandon Roy & Malcolm Lee will also sit this one out for the Wolves. The Hornets have had some injury struggles of their own. Rookie Austin Rivers & big man Jason Smith are both done for the season. Rivers broke his hand and Smith underwent season-ending shoulder surgery. Because of the injury to Smith and the lack of depth in the frontcourt, the Hornets recently signed Lou Amundson. Lou was waived in late-February by the Wolves so they could sign Mickael Gelabale & Chris Johnson to rest of the season deals. With Smith out, Amundson is currently the second string center. The Wolves season is winding down and as it has so many seasons before, it will come to a merciless end. The Wolves have gone 6-26 since Jan. 9th and they may be lucky to get that W total to 10 before the end of the year. The Hornets lost their lone trip to the Target Center this season, but before that they had won 9 of their last 11 matchups in Minneapolis. That goes back to the days of Chris Paul, Tyson Chandler & David West. This is a very different Hornet squad, a team in a rebuild mode with some very young, raw & intriguing prospects: Anthony Davis, Eric Gordon & Ryan Anderson. Eric Gordon didn't play in the most recent matchup, but is expected to play and start at shooting guard tonight. This will be his first visit to Target Center since November 17, 2010 when he was still with the Los Angeles Clippers. Despite 30pts from Gordon, the Wolves went on to win that one. Let's take a look at tonight's probable starting lineups...
As of right now, I'm assuming that Andrei Kirilenko (13.1P, 6R, 2.9A, 1.6S, 1.1B) & Nikola Pekovic (15.9P, 8.8R, 0.9B) won't be playing. Without them, it'll be an uphill battle and with them, it makes this a very winnable game. The big concern, as always will be the matchup at shooting guard. Eric Gordon is the kind of big, scoring off-guards that the Wolves have struggled with all season long. Luke Ridnour is a good player, but it's just plain unfair to ask him to guard all these bigger, more physical and talented scoring guards.
This one will tipoff at 6pmCT from the Target Center, enjoy the game, thanks for reading HOWL and GO WOLVES! The Minnesota Timberwolves got off to a very hot start in this one. By the end of the first quarter they held a five-point lead and by halftime they built it up to 18! The Wolves shot 55% from the field in the first half and had 16ast, 10 fast break points and 24 bench points. The Rockets shot 38.5% from the field in the first half, 29.4% from deep, 4-of-6 from the line, 15 turnovers, 2 fast break points and 11 bench points. The Wolves forced the Rockets into a lot of first half turnovers of which they turned into a lot of easy baskets. While they were out running the break, the Wolves were holding one of the NBA's top transition offenses to just 2 points on the break. Greg Stiemsma & Chris Johnson had a terrific first half protecting the rim. Johnson had one of his two blocks in the first half and Stiemsma had all four of his blocks in those first two quarters. The Wolves were hitting their shots in the first half against a very bad Houston Rockets defense. Then came the second half and the inevitable letdown. The Wolves scored the first points of the third quarter to boost the lead to their largest of the night: 20. It got quite bad after that. The Rockets erupted in the third quarter to score 35 (just four less than what they scored the first two quarters! 39). Jeremy Lin had 12 of his 24 & Harden added 15 of his 37. By the end of the third it was just a 6-point game. That didn't last very long though. Despite a valiant effort from J.J. Barea who had 9 of his 19 in the fourth and Rubio who added another 5, James Harden, Greg Smith & Chandler Parsons had little trouble closing out the TWolves. Harden & Smith each scored 10 and Parsons added 9 as the Rockets took the lead with under five minutes to play and slowly built up a lead as the clock winded down. The Rockets escaped with the 8-point W in a game that really should never have been close. The Rockets are currently the 7th seed in the West and if they're struggling against a Minnesota Timberwolves team that's without four of its five best players, I'd be concerned if I was Kevin McHale. If the Rockets do indeed make the playoffs, they'll likely be a 7th or 8th seed and have to face the San Antonio Spurs or Oklahoma City Thunder. For a team that can't play defense, they'll be a quick first round exit. Let's take a look at tonight's top performers...
Derrick Williams & J.J. Barea both turned in 19-point outings, but it just wasn't enough in the final minutes to get the W. For the first time in a long time, J.J. had a big scoring night and he did so efficiently, missing just 4 of his 12 shots on the night. Greg Stiemsma has looked much improved these last 3-4 games. I've been a notorious Stiemsma heckler all season, so it's been quite strange to watch. He still has a lot of work to do when it comes to rounding out his game. His low-post offense & rebounding are two work-in-progresses. All that said, I still hope he's not back next season. James Harden & Jeremy Lin were just too much for the Wolves in this one. They had big second halves to lead the Rockets to the narrow W. Parsons was fairly subpar through three quarters, but he dumped in 9 of his 14 in the fourth quarter to help seal the win. Team Stats...
The Wolves actually shot a decent percentage from the field (for them), however their 25% on 24 attempts from deep wasn't helpful in this one. After 10 first half fast break points, they had just 4 in the second half. The Rockets cut back on the turnovers in the second half (committing just 3) and began to play the brand of basketball that has found them successful this season.
It's these kinds of games that make me really miss Kirilenko & Pekovic. It was a very close game in the final seconds and having those two could have really made a difference in this one. Here's hoping they'll be back on Sunday when the Wolves take on the Hornets at the Target Center. Until then, thanks for reading HOWL and GO WOLVES! The 22-win Minnesota Timberwolves end this two-game road trip on Friday with a matchup between the 35-win Rockets in Houston, Texas. This will be the third of three meetings between these two teams this season. The season series currently sits at 1-1. This is the first and only time the Wolves are playing in Houston this season, but they've had some success there in recent years. The Wolves have won three-straight at the Toyota Center and four of the last five. With 22 wins, the Wolves are currently tied with the Phoenix Suns and the New Orleans Hornets for the fewest wins in the Western Conference. The Wolves got a big win over a shorthanded Spurs squad earlier this week and that's the hope tonight in Houston. The Rockets' superstar James Harden is a gametime decision with a foot injury. I obviously hope he won't play as it'd certainly balance this game a bit more. The Wolves will again have just nine healthy players: Rubio, Ridnour, Barea, Shved, Gelabale, Williams, Cunningham, Stiemsma & Johnson. Chase Budinger is still out as he hasn't gotten any practice in since being cleared earlier this week, simply because the Wolves haven't practiced because they've been so undermanned. Chase is on this road trip and will sit on/behind the bench in his first return to Houston since being traded to Minnesota this summer. Kevin Love is still out with that broken hand and it'll be another 2-3 weeks before he's cleared for contact practices. Brandon Roy is out with the knee issues and Malcolm Lee is recovering from January surgeries on his knee & hip. Nikola Pekovic & Andrei Kirilenko will both miss yet another game. Pek says he's pain-free, but has been unable to get into any practices and thus hasn't played. Neither AK or Pek even made the road trip. The Rockets are trying to avoid a fifth loss in six meetings with the TWolves. These two teams first met the day after Christmas this season. The result was a three-point win for Houston. James Harden scored 17 points in the fourth quarter to lead his team to the W. Harden finished with 30pts, 6reb, 3ast, 2stls & 1blk. J.J. Barea had 18pts, 7reb, 3ast & 1stl. They met again on January 19th. The result was an easy 92-79 win for the Wolves. Kirilenko had 21pts, 11reb, 2ast & 3stls while Chris Johnson added 15pts, 6reb & 1blk off the bench. That was the first game for the "10-Day Duo" of Gelabale & Johnson as they completely destroyed the Rockets in the fourth to boost the Wolves to the W. James Harden finished with 18pts, 7reb, 5ast & 2stls, but shot 5-of-18 from the field and 0-for-7 from deep. The Rockets have won seven of their last eight at home, while the Wolves have lost fourteen of their last fifteen on the road! This is the first time the Wolves will face the Rockets since the NBA Trade Deadline and they definitely made some moves prior to February 21st. First, they sent Marcus Morris to Phoenix (to team up with his twin brother) for a second round pick. They then sent Patrick Patterson, Toney Douglas, Cole Aldrich & $1million to the Sacramento Kings for Thomas Robinson, Francisco Garcia & Tyler Honeycutt. About a week-and-a-half ago, the Kings bought out the contract of former Rocket Aaron Brooks. He promptly negotiated a new deal and signed on with the Houston Rockets. The Rockets cut Tyler Honeycutt to sign him. Definitely a much different team than the one the Wolves saw twice earlier this season. Let's take a look at the probable starting lineups in this one...
I put Harden in the starting lineup, because I assume he'll play through the foot injury in this one. If he truly is unable to play, expect Francisco Garcia or Carlos Delfino to get the start in his place. Obviously containing Harden (if he plays) will be key in this game. I pray that the plan isn't to start Luke Ridnour on him. Either Rubio or Gelabale will have to guard him from the onset of this one, unless we want him to finish with 40 on the night. You might recognize Motiejunas in this lineup. The Wolves originally drafted him 20th overall two years ago before Kahn shipped him off to Houston for money and lower picks (during his task from Glen Taylor to finance the Rambis firing). Motiejunas has been the starter since the Rockets shipped Patterson to Sacramento. Thomas Robinson is the future power forward in Houston, but they don't want to put a lot of pressure on him from the onset.
If the Wolves want to win this one they've got to focus on two areas: 1.) Contain James Harden or pray he doesn't play, 2.) Defend the perimeter, no threes! If they do those two things...and get a big dose of luck...they might win this one. Tipoff is set for 7pmCT, enjoy the game, 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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