The Wolves may be insanely undermanned and completely decimated by injuries, but there's simply no quit in these Minnesota Timberwolves. Down to just nine guys and playing in the second game of a back-to-back I was prepared for a blowout. Granted you could consider a 16-point win a blowout, this one was close for about 3.5 quarters. Despite any lead the Pacers built, the Wolves would seemingly find a way to get themselves back into the game. No lead was safe tonight as the Pacers built many, only to have the Wolves rattle off a big run and make it a single digit game. With about 10 minutes to play in the fourth quarter, the Wolves battled back to within six points, but that's as close as they'd get for the remainder of this one as the Pacers closed this one out for the easy W. A big part of the late falter was simply fatigue. With just nine players and playing the night before, these guys were understandably tired and the Pacers used that to their advantage. That wasn't the only thing they used to their advantage. A big determining factor in this one was the size of Indiana's frontcourt. 6'10" Paul George, 6'9" David West & 7'2" Roy Hibbert had their way with 6'7" Mickael Gelabale, 6'8" Derrick Williams & 6'11" Greg Stiemsma down low. Roy Hibbert had his best game of the season as the Wolves simply had no one to match up with him defensively. The entire game all I could think was how different it would be with Nikola Pekovic down low. I highly doubt that Hibbert would've finished with 27 & 12. He may be 7'2", but he'd certainly get bullied down low by Nik. This is the last time this season the Wolves face the Pacers. They finished the season series 1-1. Let's take a look at some of tonight's top performers...
Ricky Rubio followed up his 21-13-12 night with another 21-point night to go along with 6 & 10. He's undoubtedly the Wolves' best healthy player and is relied upon for the majority of what the Wolves do on both ends of the floor, currently. Ridnour had a decent offensive night. He hit a number of mid-range shots and floaters en-route to his 17-point night. Greg Stiemsma didn't really have a great night, but it was a good night in terms of what Greg has done this season. His 13 points ties a career-high, but he also took a career-high 13 attempts to get those, obviously not an efficient night for the Wolves starting center. His four offensive rebounds ties a season-high, his nine total rebounds ties a career-high and he finished with 35 minutes on the night--a new career-high. As I said before the Pacers had little struggle going inside and often all night long. Paul George had 17 points on the night (his season average), but he was limited to just 27 minutes thanks to foul trouble that plagued him all night long. Derrick Williams & Dante Cunningham couldn't stop West, while Stiemsma & Johnson had no chance vs. Hibbert (both finished with 5 fouls on the night).
Obviously, without Kevin Love, Nikola Pekovic & Andrei Kirilenko, the Pacers had little trouble scoring in the paint. Roy Hibbert & David West had their way in the paint and outscored the Wolves by a +28 in points in the paint. Add onto that the +13 rebound advantage as well as shooting higher percentages from the field and from deep, it's not terribly difficult to find key stats for a Pacers win in this one.
The Wolves will be back in action on Friday night in Houston when they take on the Rockets. Stay tuned for the preview of that one, until then thanks for reading HOWL and GO WOLVES!
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The Minnesota Timberwolves had one of their best shooting nights of the season in Tuesdays win over the San Antonio Spurs. They're hoping some of that will carry over into tonight's game vs. the Pacers as the Wolves will be seeking consecutive wins for the first time since winning four-straight during a stretch Dec. 7-15. A big part of Tuesday's win was Ricky Rubio. Ricky finished with his first NBA career triple double with 21pts, 13reb & 12ast. Tonight they'll face the Indiana Pacers. The Pacers are currently ranked #3 in the Eastern Conference and will likely fall anywhere from #2 to #5 out East when it's all said and done. They had a chance to snap the Heat's winning streak on Sunday night, but lost 91-105. The Pacers have been very good this season though. They've played the majority of the season without Danny Granger and still remain one of the Eastern Conference's best teams. That's thanks in large part to the emergence of Paul George as an all-star caliber talent, David West & George Hill. The Pacers are 39-24 on the year, 25-7 at home and 7-3 in their last ten games. They'll also be seeking a fourth-straight victory at home in this one. The Wolves on the other hand, have fallen completely out of the playoff race at 22-39, 7-23 on the road, 2-8 in their last ten games and currently ranked 12th in the Western Conference. The Wolves are seeking their first season series sweep over the Indiana Pacers since 2006-07. If you remember early this season, the Wolves defeated the Pacers 96-94 thanks to a Chase Budinger layup with 0.8 seconds to play. Unfortunately the Wolves won't have Budinger (knee). Even more unfortunate they'll also be without Love (hand), Roy (knees) and Lee (knee/hip). Both Kirilenko (calf) and Pekovic (abdomen) are looking to return this week, but it won't be for this one. This will be AK's 8th straight game he sits out and it's a 7th straight for Pek. The Pacers are without Granger who is still dealing with knee problems. He's missed the last three games and will apparently miss the next three games as well. They continue to play well without him, however. Let's take a look at tonight's probable starting lineups...
The biggest concern will be containing that big Indiana frontcourt of Paul George, David West & Roy Hibbert. If the Wolves had Andrei Kirilenko, Kevin Love & Nikola Pekovic in the lineup it wouldn't be as big a concern. Unfortunately we've got Gelly, D-Will & Stiemer. I'd be okay bringing those guys off the bench, but to ask them to guard and match up well against one of the best frontcourts in the NBA is difficult.
The Wolves shot just over 53% from the field and 60% from deep (hitting 12 threes) in the win last night over San Antonio. If we get that kind of production from our nine healthy guys, another upset could be brewing. Unlikely, but not impossible. Tonight's game tips off at 6pmCT from the Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. Thanks for reading HOWL, enjoy the game and GO WOLVES! Rubio Finishes w/1st Career Triple-Double as Shorthanded TWolves Blowout Shorthanded Spurs, 107-833/12/2013 The Minnesota Timberwolves came into this one without four of their five best players (Kevin Love, Andrei Kirilenko, Nikola Pekovic & Chase Budinger). The San Antonio Spurs came into this one without three of their four best players (Tony Parker, Tim Duncan & Kawhi Leonard). Despite being without three of their starters, I had a strong feeling that the Spurs were going to roll by the Wolves in this one. I watched part of the first quarter and saw that the Spurs were up 10 and basically thought it was the beginning of the end. I had to step away for the next hour or so and missed the rest of the first quarter, the second quarter and all but the final minutes of the third quarter. When I got home and turned on the TV, I couldn't believe what I was seeing. The Wolves were absolutely dominating the Spurs (and at that point were up by 20). This was the first Wolves game I've missed in probably three months and maybe I should miss games more often! I'm just upset I didn't get to see the second quarter, because it was apparently (from what I've heard) a good one! The Wolves scored 29 points in the second quarter, while holding the Spurs to just 10. With that, they built a demanding 53-38 lead. Had I been watching, I would've assumed a big letdown in the third quarter. The two teams played near even at 22-24 Wolves. A fourth quarter letdown? Nope! Not tonight! This is a great win for a group of guys who have really been battling this past month. I think a big key to that is the leadership of Ricky Rubio. There's no question that Ricky's passion for the game oozes out and infects the rest of his team. You rarely see him hang his head and if he does it's for a brief moment, he then promptly locks down a defender on D, gets a steal, finds a teammate for an easy bucket or drives to the rack for a fancy layup. He's always making plays and playing at 100%. That makes this game even sweeter. Not only did they beat the best team in the Western Conference (no I don't care they were without three of their starters...so are we!) but Ricky also got his first career triple-double after flirting with it for the past few weeks. Let's take a look at tonight's top performers...
Ricky finished with his first of likely many triple-doubles in his NBA career. Like I said, I only saw part of the first quarter and the last 14 minutes (or so) of the game, but from the small parts of the game I did see, he was definitely fun to watch. He achieved his first NBA career triple-double in just 29 minutes of action, grabbing his 10th rebound with roughly 9:14 to go in the fourth quarter. Barea & Shved led a bench unit that was very impressive. I saw J.J. hit three triples in the final minutes of this game, while Shved (hopefully) took a leap over the cursed Rookie Wall with this 16-point, 7-assist night. He said after the game, that he hopes he's back. Let's hope this can be a stepping stone for more consistent performances going forward. In the first few minutes I watched, Cory Joseph had a couple of easy layups and he ended up finishing with a team-high 15 points. He continues to fill in for Tony Parker and while he's certainly no Tony, the Spurs will be just fine going forward once Duncan & Leonard return. Without Parker, Duncan or Leonard, the Spurs desperately needed production from Jackson, Splitter, Green, Diaw & Ginobli. Jackson started for the injured Leonard and finished with 14pts on 5-of-10 shooting and was the best of this group, however after him it gets 'pretty rough'. Splitter is a MIP candidate this season, but this was not a good game for the third-year big man. Tiago finished with 4pts on just 1-of-10 shooting, he did grab 11 rebounds and added 1steal in 22 minutes. But he definitely had an off shooting night. Danny Green torched the Wolves for a career-high 28 points in these two teams' previous meeting, however tonight he had just 10pts on 40% FG (4-10). Boris Diaw was equally awful on offense. He contributed just 6pts on 3-of-11 shooting, including 0-for-4 from deep. And lastly, Manu Ginobli, Manu follows in the footsteps of most of his Spurs' comrades tonight. Ginobli finished with just 7pts on 20% FG (2-10) and 0-for-4 from deep! It's understandable that the Spurs were shorthanded and playing in the second game of a back-to-back, however you aren't going to get a whole lot of sympathy from this Minnesota Timberwolves squad. A TWolves team that is playing with just nine healthy players, without 3 of their starters and 4 of their 5 best players. A TWolves squad that has been decimated by injuries that has turned a once very hopeful season into yet another lotto-bound, cellar-dwelling year. This was a much needed win for the TWolves in yet another miserable season in Minnesota. Team Stats...
You shoot the ball well, you win basketball games. You play good defense, you win ball games. You do both and you blow teams out. Tonight the Wolves did both. Despite going 7-of-18 from the line, leaving 11 points there, they still finished with 107 points after going eight straight games without breaking the century mark. They held the Spurs to shooting percentages in the thirties, which is particularly good considering how well San Antonio shot from deep in the previous meetings this season. The Wolves also held a +10 on the boards and tied a season-high with their 30 assists. They also turned the ball over 16 times, but got back on D and didn't let the Spurs convert many of those chances. Conversely, the Spurs were forced into 17 turnovers that led to 30 Minnesota points. The Wolves also got 48 points from their four players off the bench. Minnesota's 53.7% FG is the second-best shooting percentage from the field for this team this season and the 60% from downtown is tops in 2012-13. Despite their deficiencies at the free-throw line, this was a very impressive Timberwolves team tonight!
The Wolves are already on a plane heading to Indianapolis to face the Pacers on Wednesday. That one will tip at 6pmCT and we'll have a full gameday preview up before then! As always thanks for reading HOWL and GO WOLVES! UPDATE (3/12 @1:15pmCT): Tim Duncan & Kawhi Leonard are both dealing with sore left knees and did not make the trip to Minnesota. Expect Diaw to get the start at power forward and either Stephen Jackson at small forward or they'll slide Danny Green to the three and start one of their smaller guards or even Manu Ginobli. Both Andrei Kirilenko & Nikola Pekovic have been ruled out for the next two games (tonight & Wednesday). The Minnesota Timberwolves will begin another back-to-back set on Tuesday night when they face the San Antonio Spurs at the Target Center. They'll be facing a Spurs squad that is without their star point guard, Tony Parker. Tony is currently dealing with an ankle injury, the original prognosis had him out for four weeks and through the first week without him, the Spurs have looked as dangerous as ever. The Spurs have some VERY good depth as evidenced by their win last night. The Spurs faced the hot Oklahoma City Thunder and promptly snapped their five-game winning streak. The final was a 105-93 Spurs win. Tiago Splitter finished with 21pts, 10 reb, 3ast, 1blk; Kawhi Leonard added 17pts, 4reb, 1ast & 3stls; and Danny Green contributed 16pts, 1reb, 5ast & 3stls. This will be the third of four meetings this season. These two teams will meet one last time in San Antonio for the Wolves' last game on April 17th. In the previous two meetings, the Spurs easily dispatched the Wolves, thanks in large part to Tony Parker. In the first meeting (1/13 in SA) Parker led the way with 20 points as the Spurs cruised to an 88-106 victory. The second encounter came on February 6th at the Target Center. Tony finished with 31 and Danny Green added a career-high 28 points (as he went 8-for-12 from downtown) as the Spurs won 94-104. Chances aren't good that they Wolves are going to be scoring 94 points in this one. The Wolves offense has been terrible lately as they've dropped 7 of their last 8 games. In the last seven games the Wolves are shooting 39.2% from the field. A big part of Minnesota's poor offense has been the absence of Andre Kirilenko (calf) and Nikola Pekovic (abdomen). Both are expecting to return this week, but it's sounding unlikely it'll be tonight vs. the Spurs. The Wolves didn't practice today and as such, it's unlikely that either will suit up. They're two of six total injured players. Kevin Love (hand) and Chase Budinger (knee) continue to remain out, but the more I hear, the more it sounds like a return to the court is on the horizon. Both players are hoping to get the okay to participate in full-contact practices this week! Brandon Roy (knees) is still out and Malcolm Lee (knee/hip) continues to rehab from his January surgeries. The Spurs are without Tony Parker (ankle). Beyond that, they have a full roster and one with a lot of great depth. You can see their starting lineup below and they're still able to bring guys like Manu Ginobli, Stephen Jackson, Matt Bonner, Boris Diaw and Gary Neal off the bench. This season has been rough...to say the least. As of last night the Wolves have the fewest wins in the Western Conference with 21. Phoenix, New Orleans & Sacramento all have 22 wins. With that, the Wolves are just 1.5 games out of the 15th (last) spot in the Western Conference. Chances are good that the Spurs don't have to worry about any kind of 'upset' in this one. San Antonio has won 19 of the last 21 meetings vs. the Wolves. Let's take a look at the top performers...
Obviously if Kirilenko (13.1P, 6R, 2.9A, 1.6S, 1.1B) and/or Pekovic (15.9P, 8.8R, 0.9B) is able to play, they'll start in this one in place of Gelabale & Stiemsma. I'd be great to have them back, but even with them, the Spurs are one of the best teams in basketball right now (just behind the red-hot Miami Heat).
I have a prior engagement to attend to tomorrow and I won't be able to watch this one. I may catch a few minutes, but I'll still have a full gameday recap by tomorrow morning! Tipoff for this one is set for 7pmCT, enjoy the game, thanks for reading HOWL and GO WOLVES! Vince Carter, Dirk Nowitzki & Elton Brand led the Mavericks to their 29th win of the season--quite easily. 36-year-old Carter was automatic every time he threw the ball up and finished with 22 on the night. 34-year-old Nowitzki had a good time as the Wolves continually left him open for mid-range jumper after mid-range jumper. Elton Brand turns 34 tomorrow as he had little resistance finishing with a 10-12 double-double. The Wolves on the other hand had just nine healthy players: Rubio, Ridnour, Barea, Shved, Gelabale, Williams, Cunningham, Stiemsma & Johnson. Not only were we down to nine healthy guys, the Wolves were on the second night of a back-to-back that had finished almost 20 hours earlier to tonight's 6pmCT tipoff. The Wolves also didn't get back from Denver until 3am in the morning (thanks to the hour lost from Daylight Savings). You could see it in the way they played tonight. After the first quarter, every Wolves player looked just 'gassed'. Hands on their knees during free throws, gasping for air. The Wolves played it close through the first quarter, but after that, the wheels fell off and this one quickly turned into a blowout. The Mavs came out in the second quarter and quickly piled on a 12-0 run to grab control. From that moment on the Wolves led by double digits for the remainder of this one, finishing with 100 points, while holding the Wolves to their lowest scoring output of the season (tied for first--had 77pts in that loss to the Clippers on 1/17). There's really not that much more to tell. The Wolves won't be a competitive squad again until Andrei Kirilenko & Nikola Pekovic return from injury. They both told the media before tonight's game that they expect to return sometime this week. Pekovic said he is now pain-free and will begin basketball activities tomorrow. With this loss the Wolves are now just 1.5 games out of the 15th place (last) in the Western Conference. You've also got to remember that the Wolves have still played the least number of games in the NBA this season (60). They'll be back in action on Tuesday to take on the Spurs and that'll be the first game of another back-to-back as they'll face the Pacers on Wednesday. Let's take a look at the top performers...
Williams had another solid outing as the Wolves continue to rely on him for a big part of what they do offensively. After having an off night yesterday in Denver, he 'got back on track' somewhat tonight and finished with 18-9. He struggled early as he was turned away multiple times on drives to the bucket, but then began to step out and easily hit a number of mid-range jumpers. Gelable followed up his season-high 19 points in Denver, with another solid outing tonight. Like everyone on the roster, he's been asked to do a lot more lately and these last couple of games, he's certainly delivered. J.J. Barea did finish with 16pts, but did so on 6-of-15 shooting and finished with the worst +/- of the night at -26! Greg Stiemsma has done the best he can these last few games without Pekovic in the lineup. He stayed out of foul trouble tonight and was able to play a career-high 31 minutes! His 10 field goal attempts are also a new career-high. The Mavericks' old-timers got it done tonight! Vince Carter has been very fun to watch this season. He may not be a high-flyer that makes the Top 10 every night, but he's adjusted his game to remain a very effective player and one of the keys to any Dallas success. Rest assured, if the Mavs make the playoffs this season, it will be thanks to a big hand from their veteran guys. Team Stats...
The Wolves turned the ball over just nine times and that is probably the lone bright spot when you look at these team stats. Those nine turnovers are the second-lowest for the Wolves this season (lowest being 8). We know the Wolves shooting is poor, especially from deep. Without their top three rebounders (Love, Pekovic & Kirilenko) they were crushed on the boards. Dallas' 44 defensive rebounds and 59 total rebounds are both season-highs for a Wolves opponent. A big part of the Mavericks' success is their depth. That was clearly on display this evening as they combined for 58 points (22 from Carter alone) compared to the 22 from Minnesota (16 courtesy of J.J.). It'll be nice to get Pek & AK back, but the Wolves need more production from guys like Dante Cunningham and Alexey Shved, especially offensively and especially Alexey. He's clearly faceplanted into the rookie wall and he needs to find something that'll get his game back on track, because he's looked simply awful the past couple weeks. His shots aren't dropping and his body language is incredibly poor. I don't know what he needs, but I can tell you the Wolves are desperate for some offense and could really use the Shved we saw to begin the season!
That's all for now, thanks for reading HOWL and GO WOLVES! The 21-38 Minnesota Timberwolves are back from their one-game road trip in Denver and will face the 28-33 Dallas Mavericks at the Target Center, Sunday night. The Mavericks are seeking a fourth win in five games, while the Timberwolves have lost seven of their last eight games. Since Nowitzki has returned from his knee injury on December 10th, the Mavs have gone 14-9. Dirk has been especially effective lately, averaging 18.5ppg on 50.4% FG in his last eight games. The Wolves have lost 23 of their last 28 games, they're 14-15 at home, 11-25 in the West, 2-8 in their last ten games and 12th in the Western Conference. As the standings currently sit, the Wolves are two games ahead of the last place New Orleans Hornets (21-42). The Mavs are 11-21 on the road, 16-22 in the West, 6-4 in their last 10 games and 3 games behind the T-8th place Jazz & Lakers. The Mavericks are looking to secure a playoff spot, but they'll have to leapfrog the Jazz, Lakers & the Trailblazers. The Blazers are just one game ahead of them in the standings. The Wolves are 2-1 vs. the Mavericks this season. The Wolves won on Nov. 12 in Dallas, 90-82 and again on Dec. 15th in Minnesota with a 114-106 overtime win. The Mavericks won the most recent meeting on January 14th in Dallas, 98-113. The Wolves had a chance to win a season series when they faced the Nuggets last night, but they lost 88-111 and the season series now sits at 2-2. Tonight they'll have a chance to win the season series vs. the Mavs. The Timberwolves are averaging 87.8ppg, 39.7% FG and are 27-for-104 (26%) from three in their last six games. Since winning 18 of the last 19 in this series, the Mavericks have lost 4 of their last 6 vs. the TWolves. The Mavericks have made some recent transactions. They traded Dahntay Jones to the Atlanta Hawks for Anthony Morrow on the NBA Trade Deadline Day, last month. On Saturday, they waived seldom-used, former first-round pick Dominique Jones. Word is, they're looking to fill that last roster spot in the very near future. The TWolves could use some more healthy bodies on the roster. They have just nine healthy players as they'll again be without Kevin Love (hand), Chase Budinger (knee), Andrei Kirilenko (calf), Nikola Pekovic (abdomen), Brandon Roy (knees) and Malcolm Lee (knee/hip). The Mavericks will be without guard Jared Cunningham who is dealing with a knee injury that is likely to keep him out for the remainder of the season. Anthony Morrow is dealing with some hip problems and may also miss this one. Shawn Marion injured his calf on March 8th and says he's unsure of his status for tonight's game. Let's take a look at the probable starting lineups...
The Wolves have just four players off the bench: J.J. Barea, Alexey Shved, Dante Cunningham & Chris Johnson.
The biggest concerns in this one will be O.J. Mayo & Dirk Nowitzki. The Wolves lack a superior post defender that can contain his offensive onslaught. I'd expect to see Dante Cunningham log significant minutes against him defensively. If the Mavs start a James-Mayo backcourt, I'd expect Ridnour to guard James and Rubio to start out on Mayo. It may not happen that way, but it's clear that Rubio is the better defender and should start out against the Mavericks' leading scorer in this one. This one will tip at 6pmCT from the Target Center, enjoy the game, thanks for reading HOWL and GO WOLVES! The Denver Nuggets have now rattled off 8 consecutive victories and 13-straight home W's. Thanks to Ty Lawson & Corey Brewer, the Nuggets pulled away in the second half for an easy 88-111 W. The Timberwolves kept things close through the first half, it was just a one-point game after two quarters, 49-50. Then midway through the third quarter, George Karl protested a offensive foul on Ty Lawson in which he lowered his shoulder and sent Rubio to the floor. He had to be contained by his assistant coaches and even shoved one of his own players out of the way as he came out to near mid-court, barking at the officials. The tantrum he threw, obviously garnered a technical foul. Karl knew exactly what he was doing, however. The 'fit' he threw energized his team as they rattled off possession after possession with easy baskets to pull away. The Wolves didn't got within single digits just one more time after that big run as the Nuggets closed it out for the 23-point victory. Midway through the fourth quarter, with the outcome of this one no longer in doubt the Nuggets began to 'clown' the Wolves. They were running the break for easy transition dunks and on a specific possession, Andre Miller threw the ball off the backboard to Kenneth Faried who attempted (but missed) the oop. He didn't make that shot, but it was that kind of fourth quarter for the Timberwolves. The Wolves have now lost 38 games and will head back home to facet the Dallas Mavericks tomorrow night at the Target Center. Let's take a look at tonight's top performers...
Mickael Gelabale had a season-high 19 points in this one as he played a team-high 31 minutes. He was actually quite impressive in this one. He scored 7 points in both the first & fourth quarters on a variety of mid-range and three-point jumpers. Barea came off the bench for 15. He had 7 in the second quarter which was a huge spark for the Wolves. He didn't shoot very efficiently, but with the current crop of healthy Wolves players, he's one of the few scorers the Wolves have left (along with Williams and...yeah...Williams). Ricky Rubio had 43 steals in his previous games, tonight he had 0! He still had a decent game, but his defense was definitely not up to par in this one. I was expecting a good duel from Lawson & Rubio, but Ty absolutely killed the Wolves tonight. He had 14 of his 32 points in the fourth quarter (and 14 of the Nuggets' 28 total 4thQ points) as the Nuggets easily closed out Minnesota. Former Wolf Corey Brewer had a good time against his former squad. He added 15 and had 6 of those in the final quarter as he was above the rim for the majority of the night. Iguodala had a spectacular all-around game as he stuffed the stat sheet. I realized while I watched tonight's game that I had almost completely forgot that Andrei Kirilenko & Nikola Pekovic even played for the Wolves! It's only been 4 games for AK & 3 games since Pek has been out, but its definitely seemed like a lot longer. They'll also miss tomorrow's game vs. Dallas and will be re-evaluated next week. Team Stats...
The Wolves had a poor shooting night (not something too uncommon this season) and they turned the ball over 22 times. The Nuggets aren't a team that you can turn the ball over against, because they excel in transition offense. Tonight was a perfect example as they finished with 26 fast break points. The Nuggets are definitely a top-tier NBA team, but I don't see them getting much farther than the second round of the playoffs, for one simple reason: limited halfcourt offense. They don't have a big man that can use his post moves to maneuver in the paint for easy buckets. A team like Memphis, San Antonio, L.A. Lakers (assuming they make the playoffs) or Utah Jazz would give them fits with their low-post offense. A team that doesn't turn the ball over and can execute in halfcourt sets will be trouble for Denver this postseason.
That's all for now, Wolves are back in action tomorrow night at the Target Center vs. Dallas. Until then, thanks for reading HOWL and GO WOLVES! These two teams are meeting for the fourth and final time on Saturday night when the Timberwolves visit the Pepsi Center in Denver, Colorado. The TWolves currently lead the season series 2-1 as the Nuggets will look to even it up for the season. Winning this season series doesn't seem very likely. The Nuggets are currently riding a 7-game winning streak as well as 12 consecutive wins on their home floor. Not only have they rattled off 12 straight wins at the Pepsi Center, the Nuggets have lost just 3 games on their home floor this season. As you may know, one of those three losses came at the hands of the Minnesota Timberwolves. The Wolves won at the Pepsi Center 101-97 on January 3rd. They also had a three-point victory on Dec. 12th in Minnesota, 108-105. The Nuggets did win the first meeting of the season on Nov. 21st, 94-101 in Minnesota. The Nuggets will be looking for a 13th-straight home victory in this one, which would secure their longest home winning streak in 24 years! They haven't won 13-straight at home in one season since they rattled off 19-straight wins from Jan. 28th to April 20th of 1989. While the Nuggets look for another victory at home, the Wolves will be looking to string consecutive wins together for the first time in nearly three months! The last time the Wolves were able to win consecutive games this season was during a stretch from Dec. 7th to Dec. 15th when they won 4-straight games. In the last meeting between these two teams (1/3) is when Kevin Love re-fractured his hand. He's still out, but it's sounding as though he could return in 2-3 weeks! There was a video courtesy of @TWolves_PR on Twitter of Love taking jumpers from mid-range after practice on March 8th. Chase Budinger is also nearing a return and he's got the same 2-3 week timeline. Brandon Roy continues to remain out. Malcolm Lee has been out after having surgery in January on his knee & hip. Andrei Kirilenko (calf) & Nikola Pekovic (abdomen) will also miss this one. The plan is still to re-evaluate them next week. The Denver Nuggets have a full 15-man roster, with everyone completely healthy! Wouldn't that be nice, eh?! Without Kevin Love, the Timberwolves have lost 12 of 13 on the road & 23 of 29 overall. They snapped a six-game losing streak on Wednesday night when they escaped with a five-point victory over the Washington Wizards. Let's take a look at the probable starting lineups in this one...
There is a chance that Adelman decides to start Cunningham at small forward instead of Gelabale, to match up better with Danilo Gallinari. Danilo has averaged a team-high 18.3 points per game on 54.3% shooting in the three matchups vs. Minnesota this season.
The biggest concern will be how the Wolves go about defending Andre Iguodala. Rubio will take Lawson and either Gelabale or Dante will guard Gallinari, which leaves Luke Ridnour to deal with AI. One of the NBA's stronger swingman, if he decides to post up Minnesota's backcourt, he should have great success all night long. The Wolves simply don't have any guards or forwards (beyond Dante) that can match up with him physically. It should be a great point guard battle. Ty Lawson is averaging 23.6 points per game in his last 12 games, but tonight he'll be going up against a young point guard who is quickly becoming recognized as one of the NBA's premier perimeter defenders. The Nuggets currently sit at 5th in the Western Conference as they look to make the jump to a Top 4 team to secure home court advantage in the first round of the playoffs. Denver comes into tonight's game at 41-22, 27-3 at home, 7-5 in the Northwest, 27-11 vs. the Western Conference, winners of 7-straight games and 8-2 in their last ten games. The Timberwolves currently sit at 12th in the Western Conference and unfortunately just 2.5 games out of 15th, they're also 21-37 on the year, 7-22 on the road, 3-9 vs. the Northwest, 11-24 vs. the West and 3-7 in their last ten games. Tipoff for tonight's game is 8pmCT, enjoy the game, thanks for reading HOWL and GO WOLVES! It's been two long week since the Wolves got a win and there's no doubting it's felt even longer than that. Tonight the Wolves were able to snap a six-game losing streak and avoid their longest losing streak of the season with an 87-82 win over the Washington Wizards. Thanks in large part to the play of Ricky Rubio, the Wolves now have their 21st win of the season and Rick Adelman inches closer to his 1000th W. After three quarters, the Timberwolves found themselves up by two points. I know we were all thinking the same thing: please let them close this one out! It's no secret that the Wolves have been simply terrible closing teams out this season. Ricky Rubio wasn't going to let the Wolves lose this one. His play--especially on the defensive end propelled Minnesota to their first win since February 20th. With 1:49 to play in this one, Nene found his buddy Emeka Okafor for a two-point shot that cut the Wolves lead to just two points (83-82). Dante couldn't respond as he missed a 20-footer on the ensuing possession. It was Wizards basketball and they had a chance to take the lead with just under 1:30 to play. Nene missed a mid-range jumper, but Washington secured the rebound and reset, John Wall threw up a three-pointer that couldn't find bottom and Derrick Williams came up with a very big rebound. Both teams had empty possessions, before a steal by Ricky Rubio and a tip pass to J.J. Barea started a break that ended with an easy J.J. layup and a three-point lead (85-82) with just 28 seconds to play. Out of the timeout, Trevor Ariza missed a three-pointer. It was then the Wolves ball with just over 12 seconds to play. The Wizards fouled Ridnour on the inbound and he hit both free throws to seal the 87-82 W. Former Wolf Martell Webster missed a three with 8 seconds to play and the Wolves got a much needed win--not just for the fans, but especially for those players who have continued to battle despite being extremely shorthanded. Let's take a look at tonight's top performers...
Ricky Rubio finished just three rebounds shy of that elusive triple-double that he continues to circle his past few games. He struggled shooting from the field at just 4-of-15, but his contributions on the defensive end and his defense on Wall in the second half was key to this victory. That steal with just under 30 seconds to play was a deciding factor in this game. Williams struggled (as expected) a bit against Nene & Okafor, but he still managed to finish with 16-8. It's a tough situation for Williams right now, he's a second-year player that has continued to make great strides these past couple months. The tough part is that with so many injuries to key players he's honestly Minnesota's #1 offensive option and you've got to give the kid credit, he's done a pretty decent job considering! Dante was a gametime decision prior to this one. He didn't participate in the morning shootaround because he was dealing with flu-like symptoms. He was questionable up to the last 20 minutes of the beginning of this game, but came out for warmups and decided to give it a go in this one. He ended up playing a great game and finished with another solid all-around game centered around his mid-range jumper and his versatile D. John Wall had an incredible first half as he hit jumper after jumper from the right elbow mid-range. By the end of the first half, he had 12 of his 19 points. Trevor Ariza also had a great first half. By halftime he already had all 16 of his points. The Wolves made adjustments at the half on D and Ricky Rubio led the charge for an improved defensive effort. Without Minnesota's top 3 rebounders (Love, Pek & AK) Emeka Okafor finished the night with 14 rebounds. It's no surprise considering the Wolves had just four healthy post players, none of which are known for their rebounding capabilities. Adelman employed a Williams-Cunningham frontcourt a good portion of this one and between the two of them, they average just over 10 rebounds a game this season! Team Stats...
The Wolves finished the night shooting just over 40% from the field and left 10 points at the line...and they were still able to secure the W in this one! Add to that, the Wizards' +10 advantage on the boards and you wonder how we won this one. I'll tell you how we won this one: the Wolves forced the Wiz into 24 turnovers, the Wizards committed 29 personal fouls, the Wolves outscored Washington by a +20 in the paint, a +12 on the break and a +19 from bench production. Despite Minnesota's 'deficiencies' shooting the basketball in this one, they made up for it in plenty of other areas for the five-point W.
The Wolves don't play again until Saturday in Denver when they take on the Nuggets at the Pepsi Center. Until then, thanks for reading HOWL and GO WOLVES! The Minnesota Timberwolves are looking to avoid a seven-game losing streak (would be their longest of the season) on Wednesday night when the Washington Wizards come to town looking to set a season-high with their second consecutive road win (something they haven't done since the end of the 2011-12 season). It'll be no easy task however as the Wolves will once again have just nine healthy players. 60% of Minnesota's starting lineup will be watching from the sidelines. Kevin Love is progressing, but still out with that broken hand. Both Nikola Pekovic (strained abdomen) & Andrei Kirilenko (calf strain) have been ruled out for the next three games, starting tonight vs. Washington. Chase Budinger is also progressing and nearing a return, but he's still out as he rehabs that torn lateral meniscus. He did do some on-court shooting in yesterday's practice, which is encouraging. Brandon Roy is still out with his degenerative knees and Malcolm Lee is rehabbing from those hip & knee surgeries that will keep him out for the remainder of the season. The Washington Wizards continue to be without reserve forward Cartier Martin as he deals with a hyperextended knee. Bradley Beal left Sunday's game vs. the 76ers with an ankle sprain. He could play in this one, but injury reports have him listed as 'doubtful' to play tonight. With just nine healthy players: Ricky Rubio, J.J. Barea, Luke Ridnour, Alexey Shved, Mickael Gelabale, Derrick Williams, Dante Cunningham, Greg Stiemsma & Chris Johnson; despite playing one of the Eastern Conference's worst teams, it's more than likely they won't walk away winners in this one. The Timberwolves have added one to the win column since they beat the 76ers back on February 20th. With so many players in and out (mostly out) of the lineup it's no wonder the Wolves haven't been able to develop any kind of consistency. The Wolves are just 20-37 on the year, 13-15 at home, losers of six-straight and 2-8 in their last 10 games. They also sit at 12th in the Western Conference and are currently just 1.5 games ahead of the 21-41 (15th place) Sacramento Kings. The Washington Wizards also sit in the bottom-half of their conference. The Wiz are 19-39 on the year, 5-22 on the road and 6-4 in their last 10 games. They're almost definitely out of the playoff race as they currently sit 11 games behind the 8th place 30-28 Milwaukee Bucks. Historically the Washington Wizards have struggled playing at the Target Center. They've lost two-straight in Minnesota and 9 of their last 11 games. With just 5 wins in 27 tries away from Verizon Center this season, hopefully the Wolves can make that play into their advantage. This is the second of two meetings this season as the Wolves fell to the Wizards back on January 25th at the Verizon Center. It was a 114-101 final, the Wiz were led by John Wall (14pts & 5ast) & Bradley Beal (16pts & 4blks). The Wizards also shot 57.8% from the field in that win. Let's take a look at each team's probable starting lineup in this one...
Obviously if Bradley Beal (14.2P, 3.7R, 2.5A) is able to play, he'll be starting with John Wall in the backcourt, if not, it's likely Trevor Ariza gets the nod--or perhaps Garrett Temple.
Derrick Williams has been quite good these past few games. DWill is averaging 21.4 points a game & 10 rebounds a game over the last five. With no Pekovic & no Kirilenko, I wouldn't be surprised if Williams struggles in this one against the back frontcourt of Nene & Okafor. Tonight's game also marks Martell Webster's return to the Target Center. After spending two injury-riddled seasons in Minnesota, Webster's contract was bought out this past offseason and he signed a one-year veteran's minimum deal with the Wizards. He began the year as a reserve swingman off the bench, but has emerged as the Wizards starting small forward, winning the position battle over Trevor Ariza. This will be his first time since he was a Trailblazer that he'll visit the Target Center as a visitor. Tonight's game will tip at 7pmCT from the Target Center, 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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