The Minnesota Timberwolves had an excellent chance to play spoiler as the Golden State Warriors were looking to lock up a playoff berth in this one. Unfortunately an almost expected third quarter lapse doomed the Wolves as they lost 89-105. The Warriors have clinched just their second playoff berth in 19 seasons. This was a sixth-straight W over the Wolves and a season series sweep. Tonight I kept a game log of my thoughts on tonight's game and I decided to use that for our Gameday recap. Hope you enjoy! First Quarter... -Warriors start off with two empty possessions: David Lee hook shot miss & Curry three-point miss. The Bogut with a mid-range jumper & Thompson with an o-reb and reverse putback. -Rubio starting tonight's game like he started that game vs. Detroit: A LOT OF OPEN MISSES! Went 1-13 FG vs. DET. -SCORE: 8-8 w/7:00 to play. -Pek really working hard on both ends. Had one particular possession defensively vs. Bogut where he got up on him defensively on the mid-range, moved his feet as he drove and body up on him as he put up the shot, was called for a foul...not so sure it was, but good to see nonetheless. -Just realized I really don't care much for this Warriors team. They just don't seem like a likable bunch to me...at least from a non-Warriors fan perspective. There are some teams in the NBA that you appreciate watching, Warriors not one of those teams (in my opinion). -MAN! Rubio is excellent at sneaking in and stealing lazy outlet passes. Just good at playing passing lanes period. -Wonder if the Warriors can keep this team together? Will their main reserves Jack & Landry be back next season? -With all the talk about Warriors depth, beyond Jack & Landry off the bench...who do they have?! -If they're matched up against a #3 like DEN, they'll see what true depth is! -Klay Thompson killing the Wolves in this first quarter. -Klay finishes with 12 of GSW's 26 1st quarter points. Second Quarter... -TWolves open 2nd Q with Barea, Shved, Budinger, Cunningham & Stiemsma. -This is Budinger's 18th game of the season--same # Kevin Love has played. -Golden State started second quater 0-for-5 before a 3 from Curry made it 31-28 MIN w/10:00 to play. -Another Thompson 3 and it's 38-36 MIN w/8:00 to play. -The Thunder beat the Jazz, so the Warriors need to beat the Wolves tonight to clinch a playoff berth. TWolves hoping to play spoiler here. -Thompson hit yet another three...perhaps some adjustments could be made...? -TWolves reserves playing pretty well tonight, Dante active as always, JJ & Bud hitting their shots with Stiemer & Shved looking a bit more aggressive than in recent games. -I don't think Thompson has yet to come out...pretty sure he's played the first 18 minutes of the game as Jackson is forced into a timeout thanks to a TWolves run. Wolves have to find a way to slow him down. -Just thinking...Minnesota's season is over in another week and a half. It's been a long season, but the improved play as of late and Adelman's 1000th W have been fun. -Thompson with 25 points w/5:00 to play in the half and was perfect from the field until a miss from deep at the 4:40 mark. -Adelman brings Rubio & Pekovic back in at the 4:00 mark for Barea & Stiemsma, Kirilenko in for Budinger at the next dead ball. Surprisingly sticking with Alexey Shved out there, despite his typical struggles of late. -Rubio's offense has been coming and going since his return and lately it's gone. The only points he's getting are from the free throw line. He went 8-for-9 vs. Detroit and is getting to line a number of times tonight, as well. -Talked plenty in the preview about the Warriors three-point prowess and they're putting that on display tonight courtesy of Klay & Steph. -As always, Kirilenko moving without the basketball and as always, he's getting himself a lot of open looks and easy baskets. -Both Curry & Thompson head to the bench with under a minute to play in the half--both with three personal fouls. -Warriors lead by one after first half and Thompson goes 9-of-11 for 25 points in 20 minutes. Halftime Thoughts... -TWolves HAVE to find a way to slow down Thompson and Golden State's three-point shooting. The Warriors are 6-of-13 and Klay is 5-of-6. -Despite everything, the Wolves are playing pretty well in this one on both ends. -Pekovic with just 3 points (all in the 1st Q) at the half. I'd expect him to come out aggressive in this second half and get some good offensive production early in this third quarter. -It's been all Thompson in the first half, will be interesting to see if they keep going to him or if they'll look to get some more players involved in the offense... Third Quarter... -TWolves trying to go to Pek early in the third, but Bogut still doing an excellent job on him defensively. -Thompson started the game 9-for-9 and has now missed 6 straight shots (4 in the third quarter). -Pek speeding up his moves in the post and keeping Bogut a little off balance so he can't keep sending back those shots now. -Thompson gets back on track with a three-pointer at the 7:20 to play mark to make it 60-63 GSW. -Andrew Bogut (11) and David Lee (10) getting it done on the boards. -An altercation at just under 7:00 to play mark in third. He was held by Thompson on the defensive end and then they exchanged shoves. Luke was eventually called for a technical foul and Steph Curry hits the freebie at the line. -5:57 to play in the third and the Warriors lead 61-66. -It was all Klay in the first half, but in the third the Warriors are looking to get more points in the paint and are crashing the offensive boards for a number of second chance opportunities. -Warriors are the #1 three-point shooting team in the NBA. The Wolves are the worst three-point shooting team in the NBA. Despite a decent night from downtown for Minnesota, the Warriors are certainly the far superior shooting squad. -Warriors have rattled off a 19-4 run to make it 64-78 GSW. -Like so many times before, the 'wheels are falling off' in the third quarter for our Minnesota Timberwolves. Wolves have had some incredible fourth quarters this season...do they have one in them tonight? -Refs taking a look at a Jarrett Jack foul on Andrei Kirilenko via replay. After the review, it's determined as a flagrant 1 as there was clearly unnecessary contact from Jack on AK. He just wound up and took a swipe across his arms. Makes me hate the man even more as the reasons continue to pile up. -Budinger continues to play well as he knocks down a very contested three-pointer to make it 69-80 GSW w/2:00 to play in the third. -Warriors lead the Wolves 70-86 after three. Fourth Quarter... -TWolves begin fourth quarter with the second unit (JJ, Shved, Bud, Dante & Stiemer), Warriors with Curry, Jack, Klay, Landry & Ezeli. -Warriors open up biggest lead 74-92 w/8:30 to play. -Adelman sticking with mainly reserves and if things continue on this path, the starters probably won't see much more tonight as they'll be needed tomorrow when the Wolves take on the Clippers at Staples Center. -I'm watching the Warriors broadcast and unfortunately Ric Bucher is their sideline reporter, my dislike for Bucher lies just below my dislike for Jarrett Jack. -TWolves definitely getting worked on the boards tonight. -Warriors beginning to slow it down and are working deeper into the shot clock on their possessions. -The redundancy from this Warriors broadcast team is unbelievable. I think I've heard three or four phrases about Thompson & Golden State's chances of clinching a playoff spot nearly thirty-four million times. Give or take a million. -Warriors hold a fifteen-point lead with 5:22 to play and they empty their bench. Adelman follows suit and brings bench warmers Gelabale & CJ into the game. Definitely won't see Rubio, Pek or AK again in this one. -Greg Stiemsma out there chucking up mid-range jumpers. I know he can make it, but man it always looks ugly and more often than not it's a brick. He's got such a weird stroke, looks very disjointed with very limited lift. -For just the second time in 19 years the Golden State Warriors have clinched a playoff berth. Up next a quick sweep from a team like the Clippers, Nuggets or Grizzlies. -Final in this one: 89-105. Let's take a look at tonight's box score... Chase Budinger had his best scoring night since his return from knee surgery, scoring 17 points (one off tying his season-high) on 7-of-15 shooting. Bud scored 7pts in the second quarter and another 6 in the fourth quarter.
When Bud wasn't scoring from the small forward position, AK47 was. Kirilenko scored 6pts in the first quarter and another 7pts in the third quarter to eventually finish with 15 on the night. He also added 4 rebounds, 2 assists & 2 blocks in just 21 minutes. Alexey Shved only had two points on 1-of-6 shooting, however he tapped into his playmaking capabilities. Shved finished with 9 assists to lead the Wolves. After Pekovic's hot week April 1-7 that earned him Western Conference Player of the Week honors, he met the defensive-minded Andrew Bogut tonight in the Bay Area and struggled mightily. Pek was turned away many times at the rim and finished just 2-of-8 from the field with 5 points & 7 rebounds in 26 minutes. Hopefully he can get back on track tomorrow night vs. the Clippers. The Timberwolves' starting backcourt got absolutely worked by Golden State's starting guards. Rubio & Ridnour finished the game a combined 4-of-16 from the field and just 13 points. Rubio had another awful shooting night. He went 1-for-13 vs. Detroit in his last game and he followed that up with an 0-for-10 night. The Warriors starting backcourt combined to score 54 of Golden State's 105 points. Thompson started the night 9-for-9 from the field and then went 1-for-10 down the stretch. Despite that he still finished with 30 points and a career-high 5 steals. He also made 6 of his 10 three point attempts as the Warriors made 10 threes combined as a team! Curry also finished with 10 assists to register a double-double on the night. The Wolves were not only worked in the backcourt, but also on the boards. The Warriors grabbed 60 rebounds & 38 defensive which are both new season-high for a Wolves opponent. The Warriors' starting frontcourt combined to snag 36 of their 60 total: Bogut (14), Lee (12) & Barnes (10). Matchup Battle Report... Pekovic vs. Bogut: Bogut WINS Minnesota's starting backcourt vs. Golden State's starting backcourt: Golden State WINS The Timberwolves are right back in action tomorrow night to take on the Clippers at the Staples Center. It's another late tip (10:30pmCT), stay tuned for the preview, thanks for reading HOWL and GO WOLVES!
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The Minnesota Timberwolves will begin a three-game road trip on Tuesday night when they take on the Golden State Warriors at Oracle Arena. The Warriors are looking for the series sweep as they've won all three prior meetings this season. Beyond those three straight wins, the Warriors have won five-straight vs. the Timberwolves. The Warriors are looking to lock up a postseason berth. They had a chance to do so on Sunday night, but fell to the Utah Jazz 90-97. Golden State can lock up that berth by sweeping the season series vs. Minnesota tonight and having the New Orleans Hornets defeat the Los Angeles Lakers. The Timberwolves are 29-47 on the year and will miss the playoffs for a ninth consecutive season. The Wolves do have a bit of momentum, however. Minnesota is 4-1 in their last five games (with the one loss coming vs. Toronto on Friday: 93-95) and 6-4 in their last ten games. During that 10-game stretch the Wolves have scored at least 107 points in five of those! A big part of Minnesota's success has been contributions from a number of players... Nikola Pekovic earned himself Western Conference Player of the Week honors for April 1-7. During that time he averaged 25ppg & 8.5rpg on 59% FG while the Wolves went 3-1. Nikola is also averaging 22.7ppg & 11.1rpg in his last seven games. Pek has scored a combined 38 points in two games vs. the Warriors this season, after missing the first meeting on Nov. 16th at the Target Center with an ankle sprain. I was at that game and unfortunately had to watch Greg Stiemsma as the starting center. Ricky Rubio struggles with turnovers as evident by his 8 turnover night in Milwaukee last week. Despite that his all-around game is incredible. The way Rubio is able to 'stuff the stat sheet' night after night is just crazy. Some nights, you look at the box score after a game and just shake your head. Andrei Kirilenko & Dante Cunningham are two of the Wolves' most versatile defenders. They've also both stepped up their offensive output recently. The Wolves are going to need big games from these guys if they hope to walk away with their first W over Golden State this season. The Wolves are seeking a fourth-straight road victory. Doing so would be the first such streak since Jan. 3-19 2009. If the Wolves can come away with a victory in this one, they can 'put a wrench' in Golden State's plans. You know the Warriors are chalking this one up as a W, because they desperately need it. Golden State is currently the 6th seed in the Western Conference but sit just one game ahead of the #7 Houston Rockets and three-and-a-half games ahead of the #8 Utah Jazz. The Rockets will be facing the Phoenix Suns tomorrow and there's a very good chance they'll come away victorious. Assuming it comes down to a tie for the #6 seed, the Rockets hold the tiebreaker because they've gone 3-1 vs. GSW this season. That becomes very important because the #7 & #8 seeds will have to face the San Antonio Spurs and the Oklahoma City Thunder! Whereas the #6 seed will face either the Denver Nuggets or Memphis Grizzlies. Besides Pekovic winning Western Confernce Player of the Week yesterday, that wasn't the only big Wolves news that broke. Late Monday night, it was announced that Kevin Love would be undergoing season-ending knee surgery. Love's return was delayed by the knee problem and now he's undergoing surgery to remove some scar tissue in there. Recovery time is 4-6 weeks and he'll be back to full speed by early June and have all summer to get his body right. Brandon Roy (knees) and Malcolm Lee (knee/hip) are also out for the year and won't play in this one. The Warriors are without just one player: Brandon Rush. Rush tore his ACL early this season and he'll likely be back by training camp this fall. Let's take a look at tonight's probable starting lineups...
If I'm not mistaken this will be the Wolves' first chance to see Andrew Bogut in a Warriors uniform. He's missed the previous three meetings this season with ankle & back problems. It should be a very good battle down low between him & the red-hot Nikola Pekovic.
Ricky Rubio vs. Stephen Curry should be fun as well. Curry has had a great season and has been an intergral part of Golden State's stellar season that'll see them postseason bound. You look at this Warriors squad with guys like Curry, Lee, Landry & Jack. You realize that a fully healthy Minnesota Timberwolves team is a superior squad and the Wolves could be 44-33 this season and playoff-bound. Tipoff for this one is set for 9:30pmCT, enjoy the game, thanks for reading HOWL and GO WOLVES! In another disappointing Timberwolves basketball season marred by too many injuries to count, tonight was one of the lone bright spots. The Timberwolves grabbed their 29th win of the season, but more importantly it was Rick Adelman's 1000th career victory as an NBA head coach. For over twenty seasons Rick Adelman has manned the sidelines and over that time he's earned the admiration of his peers as a real innovator in NBA schemes. Now he's part of the exclusive 1000 win club. Adelman joins Don Nelson, Lenny Wilkens, Pat Riley, Jerry Sloan, Phil Jackson, Larry Brown and the only other active NBA coach George Karl. It was a special moment post-game, Rick Adelman was joined on the court with his wife Mary Kay, they shared some tears, a hug and a smooch. Rick said during an interview on the PA system after the game that he couldn't have done it without his wife. As you probably have heard, his wife has been having some health problems (unexplained seizures) this season that forced Rick to miss 11 straight games in the middle of the season. Rick Adelman has 1000 wins and he's second in wins in Minnesota franchise coaching history. Just imagine how many more wins or how much sooner he would've got #1000 if he had two healthy Wolves squads these past two seasons! Rick & Mary Kay On to this Detroit game... In a lot of ways this game mirrored Friday's matchup with the Toronto Raptors. So, of course, in the back of my mind I was thinking there's a good chance we'd be coming out of this one with another narrow defeat. The Pistons were able to keep it close, much like the Raptors did. The Wolves would go on a run and find themselves leading by double digits only to have a guy like Rodney Stuckey/Brandon Knight (Friday it was Rudy Gay/DeMar DeRozan) dump in a number of baskets to cut the deficit. Let's fast forward to the final 20 seconds of this one... With 19 seconds to play, Jonas Jerebko intentionally fouled Luke Ridnour sending him to the line for two free throws. Before the two gimmes, the Wolves were up 102-101. Ridnour went 1 of 2 at the line to give the Wolves a 103-101 lead. It certainly gave Wolves fans a bit of worry who saw Ricky Rubio go 1 of 2 at the line on Friday, a second make would've tied the game, instead the Raptors secured the board and ultimately secured the win. Fortunately, Nikola Pekovic tapped the offensive board out on the perimeter and it landed in Luke Ridnour's lap. Ridnour was again fouled and this time stepped to the line and hit them both to make it 105-101 with 15 seconds to play. Out of a Pistons timeout, Rodney Stuckey missed a three-pointer, Pekovic secured the board and was again fouled. Pekovic stepped to the line and hit two more free throws to make it 107-101. Greg Monroe threw up a desperation three-pointer that couldn't find bottom and the Wolves walked away with the W, 29th of the season and 1000th of Adelman's NBA coaching career. Let's take a look at tonight's box score... Tonight, Brandon Knight (25pts) & Rodney Stuckey (20pts) were very similar to Rudy Gay (26pts) & DeMar DeRozan (25pts) on Friday. Brandon Knight had 7pts in the first quarter and added another 10pts in the 4th. 13 of Stuckey's 20pts came in the second quarter.
I thought the Greg Monroe/Andre Drummond frontcourt would've produced a bit more--especially with one of them facing Derrick Williams down low. Monroe & Drummond combined for just 25pts & 16reb. Greg Monroe had just 6 rebounds. Monroe did get going early with 9 of his 16pts coming in the first quarter. Rodney Stuckey did some work down low and finished with 8 rebounds on the night. I was a bit surprised that Jose Calderon didn't contribute a bit more in this one. Calderon is known for his playmaking abilities, but finished with just 4 assists on the night. Jose is battling through a triceps strain which likely explains some of those below average numbers tonight. For the Wolves, their big men got it going early. Derrick Williams scored all of his 14 points in the first quarter, while Pekovic added 9 of his 20 in the first. Nikola also finished with 13 rebounds, which is the most he's had since 3/29 vs. Oklahoma City a week-and-a-half ago, when he had 15. J.J. Barea followed up his goose egg on Friday (0pts) and had 20 in this one, with 15 of those coming in the second quarter (to negate Stuckey's 13 second quarter points). While J.J. Barea scorched the net shooting 9-for-13 from the field (69%). That helped to make up for the Wolves' starting backcourt's shooting woes. Luke Ridnour & Ricky Rubio shot a combined 2-for-19 from the field (11%). Ridnour finished with just 5 points and Ricky Rubio added 10pts, thanks in large part to his 8-of-9 at the free throw line. As such, the Wolves starting backcourt played a bit of limited minutes. Ridnour played just 20 & Rubio was on the court for 32--thanks in large part to that poor shooting. Andrei Kirilenko had his best defensive game of the season, finishing with 2 blocks and a season-high 7 steals. Those 7 steals are one off of his career-high (8). AK also added 13pts, 6reb & 3ast in 43 minutes. The 29-47 Minnesota Timberwolves now have a couple days off, before they return to action on Tuesday night to take on the Golden State Warriors on Tuesday night. Until then, thanks for reading HOWL and GO WOLVES! The Timberwolves had a chance to get Rick Adelman his 1000th win last night vs. the Toronto Raptors. Unfortunately Minnesota missed 10 free throws on the night including one by Ricky Rubio with 1.7 seconds to play that could've tied the game. Rick Adelman is still on 999 career wins, but he'll have another chance at 1000 less than 24 hours after that loss last night. They'll be facing a Pistons team that they played less than two weeks ago in a blowout 105-82 win. Nikola Pekovic dumped in 18pts & 11reb in that one. Pekovic has been a HUGE part of the Wolves' recent success. Following that game in Detroit, he finished with 19pts & 16reb vs. LA Lakers on 3/26, followed by 22pts & 15reb vs. Oklahoma City, he missed the next game in Memphis because of an ankle sprain, but returned from his one game absence vs. Boston on 4/1 with 29pts & 5reb, then 27pts & 8reb in Milwaukee on Wednesday and of course 24pts & 8reb vs. Toronto last night. In those last six games he's averaging 23.2 points and 10.5 rebounds! He'll have a great matchup tonight with Greg Monroe & Andre Drummond down low. I'd say the chances of the Wolves earning Rick his 1000th W is very good. The Pistons are 2-14 in their last 16 games. Add to that, the Wolves have won five-straight vs. the Pistons and the stats lean in Minnesota's favor. The Wolves are 5-4 in their last 9 games and 6-6 in their last 12. The Wolves will be without Kevin Love (hand) who found out yesterday that he wasn't cleared for full-contact practices, he'll be re-evaluated early next week in hopes to play the last couple games of the season...it seems more and more unlikely that, that might happen. Of course, Brandon Roy (knees) and Malcolm Lee (knee/hip) are also out for this one. The Pistons have two broken noses, a hand injury, a triceps strain and a detached retina! Both Corey Maggette & Brandon Knight have broken noses that have been reset. They're both probable to play tonight. Jose Calderon sat out the last game and they found out recently it was because of a triceps strain. He'll try to play through that and is also listed as 'probable' for this one. Willy Bynum is still nursing a hand injury and he's already been ruled out for this one, as well. Jason Maxiell was the team's starting power forward, but he recently suffered a detached retina. It forced him into season-ending eye surgery. Let's take a look at tonight's probable starting lineups...
It should be a very good battle in the paint with Pek & Drummond, but I do have some concerns about Derrick Williams matching up with Greg Monroe. I'm excited to see these two Detroit big men take the court together and I'm excited to see Andre Drummond--this will be the first full game I watch him play.
If the Wolves can obtain those big men, they have a very good chance of coming away victorious in this one. I don't have any concerns about Singler...Kirilenko will easily shut him down. Hopefully the Detroit backcourt is hampered a bit by those injuries listed above. Tipoff is set for 7pmCT, tune in for Adelman's 1000, enjoy the game, thanks for reading HOWL and GO WOLVES! The Minnesota Timberwolves had a chance to win Mr. Rick Adelman his 1000th game tonight, but fell just short to their opponents from the North. The Wolves missed some key free throws down the stretch in this one, which ultimately allowed the Raptors to seal this narrow two-point W. With 1:53 to play, Rubio stepped to the line and hit just 1 of 2 to make it a 91-92 Raptors lead. Rudy Gay responded on the ensuing Toronto possession with a mid-range jumper to make it 91-94 Toronto. The Wolves had a couple chances on a possession on the other end, but came up empty. It was Raptors basketball with 1:12 to play. Toronto couldn't push the lead to double digits on that possession, however. On the next Wolves possession, Kirilenko was fouled by Rudy Gay, which sent him to the line for two free throws. AK went 1 of 2 at the line as well to make it 92-94 Toronto. Kyle Lowry missed a three-pointer on the next Raptor possession, but Landry Fields was able to secure the miss. Dante then fouled Rudy Gay, but the Wolves had a foul to give. The Raptors burnt some time off the clock before calling two twenty-second timeouts. Out of the timeout Rudy Gay missed a 20-foot mid-range jumper with five seconds to play. Cunningham secured the rebound and got it to Rubio who raced up the court and got up a shot that missed...but he was fouled by DeMar DeRozan with just over 1 second to play. Rubio went 1 of 2 at the line, to make it 93-94. Amir Johnson secured the rebound and was fouled, he stepped to the line for two free throws with 0.1 seconds to play. He hit the first and seemed to intentionally miss the second so there was no chance of a last second Wolves shot. Missed free throws were the death of the Wolves tonight. Tonight's loss snapped the Wolves' first winning streak in over four months. This is also Toronto's sixteenth win in the last seventeen meetings with Minnesota. Let's take a look at tonight's box score... Andre Kirilenko & Nikola Pekovic turned in some great performances in this one, but it just wasn't enough. Nikola has been on a tear lately and some people said there was a chance that Valanciunas might be able to slow him down in this one. Jonas has put together a number of good games himself, but I knew there was no way that he'd be able to handle Pekovic down low.
Kirilenko matched up with Rudy Gay and had an excellent offensive night, going for 20 points on 80% shooting. The D on Gay left a bit to be desired, but a number of Gay's baskets came with AK on the bench. Rudy scored 12 in the second quarter and added another 10 in the fourth--finishing with 26 on the night to lead all scorers. The last time we faced the Raptors, Kyle Lowry & DeMar DeRozan combined for 44 points (22 each). At that time, Rudy Gay was still donning a Grizzlies jersey. Tonight it was Rudy Gay & DeMar DeRozan who had great offensive nights to lead the Raps. They combined for 51 points (Gay with 26 & DeRozan with 25). They also both went 12-of-23 from the field. The one thing the Wolves did well was force those two into a lot of jumpshots, which percentage-wise is A LOT better than these two athletic swingman getting to the rim for easy throwdowns. The Wolves are now 28-47, but they'll have another chance right away again tomorrow night when they take on the Pistons at the Target Center. Tipoff for that one is set for 7pmCT, stay tuned for the preview, until then thanks for reading HOWL and GO WOLVES! The Minnesota Timberwolves have gotten hot recently as they've easily dispatched their last three Eastern Conference matchups. Minnesota has also gone 5-3 in their last 8 games. With their most recent win in Milwaukee on Wednesday, Rick Adelman now sits at 999 career wins. A win tonight would make Rick just the eighth coach in NBA history to join the 1000 club. The other seven include: Don Nelson, Lenny Wilkens, Pat Riley, Jerry Sloan, Phil Jackson, Larry Brown and George Karl. The Wolves have grabbed wins over the Pistons (3/26), Celtics (4/1) and Bucks (4/3) to go 3-0 vs. their last three Eastern Conference matchups. Tonight they're facing a Toronto squad that has beaten them in fifteen of the last sixteen meetings. This is the second of two meetings this season. The first came in Toronto on November 4th. It was Minnesota's second game of the season. Will Conroy & Lou Amundson were still on the team and Brandon Roy started at shooting guard. The Wolves lost 86-105. Kirilenko had 17pts, 6reb, 3ast, 1stl & 3blks while Pek added 15pts. Kyle Lowry finished with 22pts, 7reb, 5ast & 3stls; DeMar DeRozan finished with 22pts, 7reb, 2ast & 3stls; Alan Anderson added 18pts off the bench. The Wolves are currently 28-46 on the year, 18-19 at home, are winners in back-to-back games and 5-5 in their last ten games. The Raptors are 28-47, 10-27 on the road and 3-7 in their last ten games. If the Wolves hope to continue their recent hot streak they'll continue to need big production from Nikola Pekovic & Ricky Rubio. They've delivered this past week-and-a-half and there's no reason to think that won't continue tonight. Pekovic's last three games look like this: vs. OKC, 22pts/15reb; vs. BOS, 29pts/5reb; @MIL, 27pts/8reb. Ricky Rubio is coming off another near triple double on Wednesday. He set new career-highs in three-pointers made (5), attempted (6) and steals (8), finishing with 19pts, 4reb, 12ast & 8stls. The Wolves will be without Kevin Love (hand), Brandon Roy (knees) & Malcolm Lee (knee/hip). While Toronto will be playing without Andrea Bargnani (elbow) & Linas Kleiza (knee). Rudy Gay did injure his ankle on Wednesday, which limited him to 26 minutes, but it's more than likely he plays in this one. Let's take a look at tonight's probable starting lineups...
Valanciunas is averaging 18.4ppg & 9.4rpg in his last five games which included a career-high 24pts in an 88-78 win over Washington on Wednesday. I have very serious doubts that, that hot streak will continue against Nikola Pekovic and the Minnesota Timberwolves. Nikola comes in with a very, very physical advantage and 60+ pounds on the Lithuanian rookie.
I'm most excited to see Kirilenko shut down Gay (assuming he plays) and the matchup at point guard between two guards with a wide range of skills. Tipoff is set for 7pmCT from the Target Center, enjoy the game, thanks for reading HOWL and GO WOLVES! The Minnesota Timberwolves have notched back-to-back wins for the first time in 2013 and the first time since mid-December when the Wolves won four-straight. The Wolves have now also won two-straight games over Eastern Conference playoff teams (after beating Boston, Monday night). The now 28-46 Timberwolves are just one win shy of Rick Adelman's 1000th career win. With matchups against Toronto (Friday) & Detroit (Saturday), there's a very good chance he'll reach that milestone. With just eight games left on the season, there's an (VERY) outside chance the Wolves could win 34 games this season, which would be the highest single season Wolves win total since 2004-05 when they won 44. 34 wins would top 33 in 05-06 & 32 in 06-07. With Monday's win in Boston, that's the highest win total since 06-07 (32). The Wolves were able to build a lead in this one and despite a number of Milwaukee Buck runs, Minnesota was ultimately able to keep the Bucks at an arm's length for the majority of this one, that allowed them to secure this 9-point W. The Wolves have gone 5-3 in their last 8 games. So, what's been the key to their recent success? Stellar play from Ricky Rubio & Nikola Pekovic have boosted the Wolves to big wins over the Thunder, Celtics & now the Bucks this past week. However, I think Minnesota's success can be attributed to finally developing some rapport with a stabilized starting lineup. With Andrei Kirilenko & Nikola Pekovic out of the lineup for a length stint with injuries really hurt Minnesota, but they've finally bounced back and in a big way. Nikola Pekovic had 22 & 15 vs. the Thunder last week, 29 & 5 vs. the Celtics on Monday and tonight he added to his recent hot streak with 27 & 8. He's gaining a lot of confidence and making the most of every opportunity. In those matchups he faced Kendrick Perkins, Chris Wilcox & Larry Sanders. On Friday he'll be facing the Raptors' Jonas Valanciunas, no reason to think he won't continue his dominance on the meek Eastern Conference centers. Ricky Rubio finished just two steals shy of another triple-double. He got going early in this one with his hot shooting. That's not something you use to be able to say about Rubio, but with his stellar stat sheet stuffing play--his newfound offensive play has warranted that. Rubio went a perfect 5-of-5 from deep in the first half and finished 5-of-6 on the night. His five threes & six attempts are new career-highs. Add to that his eight steals...that's another new career-high. He finished with 19-4-12-8 on the night. There are very few players in the NBA today that could actually get a quadruple double in today's NBA. Ricky Rubio will be a threat to accomplish that throughout his career. Let's take a look at tonight's box score... In the preview of this game, I talked a lot about the Bucks' three guards: Brandon Jennings, Monta Ellis & J.J. Redick. I figured if the Bucks were going to win, they would have to be led by big games from those three key players. Each ultimately struggled and the result was a nine-point Milwaukee loss.
A player I overlooked or didn't give much thought to was Ersan Ilyasova. I'm well aware that Ersan is a very capable and versatile big man that's always a threat for a points-rebound double-double. A lesser version of Kevin Love. A big guy who can step out and hit threes, battles on the boards and can carry a team when he gets hot. Unfortunately the 2012-13 season has been all about inconsistency for Ilyasova. Tonight he excelled and finished with 29 points & 12 rebounds (8 offensive). That was one thing that drove me crazy tonight: allowing offensive rebounds. The Bucks finished with 20 offensive boards, 8 from Ersan & 5 from Sanders. The Wolves were able to make up for all the second chance opportunities in other areas... The Wolves finished shooting 52.5% from the field, a season-best 61.5% from three (thank you Ricky), a season-best 33 assists (thank you Ricky), got out on the break for 15 points--a +10 and 58 points in the paint, a +20 (thank you Nikola). With all those positives, they were able to make up for the second chance opportunities, 20 team turnovers and 11-for-16 (68.8%) from the line. With tonight's win the Wolves have swept the season series vs. Milwaukee and snapped a three-game losing streak in Milwaukee. The Wolves will be back in action on Friday night, back at the Target Center vs. the Toronto Raptors. Until then, thanks for reading HOWL and GO WOLVES! The 27-46 Minnesota Timberwolves did the 36-37 Milwaukee Bucks a favor on Monday night when they defeated the Boston Celtics. That win for the Wolves reduced the gap between Boston & Milwaukee to just 1.5 games. The Bucks are currently #8 in the Eastern Conference standings and seem well on their way to their first postseason in three years. With Boston at #7, the Bucks hope to catch them for on very big reason: #8 is going to have to face the Miami Heat in the first round. Tonight the Wolves are looking for back-to-back wins for the first time since December. They'll have some hurdles to overcome. The Wolves have lost 7 of 8 in Milwaukee, which includes three-straight. The Wolves defeated the Bucks in their other lone meeting this season back on November 30th. The Wolves pulled out a 95-85 win at home despite a triple-double from MIP-candidate Larry Sanders. While the Bucks are looking to clinch a playoff spot, the Wolves will miss the playoffs, once again...for a ninth-consecutive season. With the Bucks holding a six-game advantage over #9 Philadelphia, it wouldn't take a major collapse to find themselves on the outside looking in when the 2013 Postseason begins. As of right now, the 'magic number' of wins that Milwaukee needs to clinch a playoff berth stands at 3 games. While the Bucks will be looking to lock up a playoff spot, the Wolves are looking to get one win closer to 1000 career wins for Coach Adelman. As it stands going into this one, Rick has 998 and the Wolves should be able to grab two more W's before the season ends. The Wolves continue to play on without Kevin Love (hand), Brandon Roy (knees) and Malcolm Lee (knee/hip). The Bucks had two players not practice on Tuesday and both are questionable for tonight's game. Luc Richard Mbah a Moute missed practice with an illness and Gustavo Ayon missed with a knee injury. Let's take a look at tonight's probable starting lineups...
The battle of the backcourt should be interesting. For once it's not a matter of the Wolves having a HUGE disadvantage with a big scoring two-guard. However, Luke Ridnour will still have to be matched up against a Top 5 shooting guard in the NBA: Monta Ellis.
The battle in the paint should also be quite a lot of fun. The Wolves hold a big physical advantage with Pekovic down low against Larry Sanders. There's no doubt Sanders will send a couple of his shots back, but expect Nikola to just bully down there. If Pek's last two games are any indicator (22-15 & 29-5) he should have no problem going for a 20-10 tonight. Sanders has been playing well lately, in the last 12 games he's averaging 14.1ppg & 11.7rpg. The Wolves need to contain Milwaukee's three guards: Jennings, Ellis & (J.J.) Redick. That means running them off the three-point lane, limiting fast break opportunities and when they slash to the lane the bigs need to collapse and stop penetration. Tipoff is set for 7pmCT, enjoy the game, thanks for reading HOWL and GO WOLVES! The Minnesota Timberwolves have finally gotten off the snide vs. the Boston Celtics. Granted it was against a Rondo-less, Pierce-less, Garnett-less Boston team, but the Wolves finally snagged a W for the first time, after 11 consecutive losses. Without Garnett down low the Celtics had absolutely no one who could contend with Pekovic down low. Chris Wilcox and Shavlik Randolph took turns on Pek and he promptly caused them to both get into early foul trouble. Pek missed Saturday's game in Memphis with a sprained ankle, but he returned tonight right where he left off with that win over the OKC Thunder. Without Paul Pierce, the Celtics offense looked disjointed, however they had plenty of players step up. I was watching the Celtic TV broadcast and Jason Terry was on the show pre-game and said with so many players in and out of the lineup, they have to "do it by committee". Tonight they had a lot of contributors on O. Their defense is without a doubt, what lost them this game. It was a fairly close game throughout. The Wolves were able to pull ahead by 14 points in the third quarter, before the Celtics came roaring back to make it 84-78 heading into the final frame. With a bevy of players on the injury list, the Celtics started: Avery Bradley, Courtney Lee, Jeff Green, Brandon Bass & Chris Wilcox. I said it in our preview, if Pek was able to go tonight, don't be surprised if he goes for 30. Well, Pek came back from that sprained ankle and finished with 29 points (2 shy of tying his career-high) in a game-high 41 minutes of action. Let's take a look at the box score... The Celtics "did it by committee" on O tonight. They had six players finish in double figures, with point guard Bradley leading with 19. This was one of the first games I've watched Bradley and was surprised by his offensive production in this one. A player known for his defensive edge, he was hitting a number of jump shots to finish 8-of-14 in this one. Ricky Rubio was matched up with him on both ends. Rubio played well early offensively, but Ricky ultimately finished 2-for-11 on the night with 9 points, I'd attribute some of that to Bradley's D. Unfortunately, Avery isn't the playmaking point guard that Rondo is. Bradley finished with just 2 assists which is right on par with his season average. The Celtics still finished with 25 assists as a team, with three players (Terrence Williams, Jordan Crawford & Jeff Green) each finishing with 5 assists.
Terry & Williams came off the bench for 14 apiece & T-Will finished with a decent all-around game, adding 6 rebounds, 5 assists & 1 steal in 22 minutes. I remember him from his New Jersey Nets days and I'm glad he's back in the League and from the way it sounds, he's hopefully found a home in Boston. Nikola Pekovic, Dante Cunningham & Andrei Kirilenko. They just killed it tonight. Pek was a monster down low and just annihilated the Celtics bigs. Early this season, J.J. Barea was the Wolves' fourth quarter closer. Having a number of games where he'd go off for double digits in the fourth quarter to propel the Wolves to a win. Lately, Dante Cunningham has taken on that role. Tonight was another prime example as Dante scored 12 of his 19 in the fourth to seal the 10-point W. Andrei Kirilenko seemed to be returning to form tonight. He had his best game since returning from that calf injury. He finished with 17-9-5-2 in just 27 minutes. He was matched up against Jeff Green. Green has been pretty good offensively when starting for the Celtics, averaging over 22 points as a starter. Kirilenko held him to just 10 points on 10 shots. I was definitely surprised the Celtics didn't look to go a bit more to Green. The Wolves shot a season-best 92.6% from the free throw line. Nikola Pekovic went 11-for-11 himself and those 11 made free throws ties a career-high. Dante Cunningham went 5-for-6, both those makes & attempts tie career-highs. The Wolves are an excellent team at drawing fouls, while not doing the same, themselves, tonight was another prime example. The Wolves finished with just 11 personal fouls (the second-least of the season), while forcing Boston into 21 and 27 free throw attempts. When you look at the team stats, the Celtics shot a better percentage from the field and deep, they held a +6 on the boards and got 47 points from their bench. The Wolves made up for those deficiencies by going 25-for-27 from the line, a season-high-tying 30 assists, forced Boston into 17 turnovers for 22 points, went for a season-high 23 fast break points and 62 paint points (second best total of the season). The Wolves are now 27-46 on the season. With 27 wins that's the most wins in a single season since 2006-07 when the Wolves went 32-50. Despite all these injuries, the Wolves will finish with their best record in over six years! Minnesota will be looking for #28 when they face the Bucks in Milwaukee on Wednesday night, stay tuned for the preview, until then, thanks for reading HOWL and GO WOLVES! Monday night the Minnesota Timberwolves will be facing a team that has even more players on their injury report and that's no April Fools! The Minnesota Timberwolves continue to play without Kevin Love (hand), Brandon Roy (knees) and Malcolm Lee (knee/hip). Nikola Pekovic missed the Wolves' last outing (Saturday in Memphis) with a sprained ankle and is status for tonight's game is currently unknown. The Boston Celtics may be without three of their..."Big Three". Rajon Rondo is out with that ACL injury. Kevin Garnett has been ruled out for the remainder of this week as he continues to sit with 'inflammation' in his ankle. Paul Pierce may also be out for this one. He turned his ankle in the game on Sunday and Celtics head coach Doc Rivers said Pierce will likely sit out today's game. Rookie forward Jared Sullinger is also out with a back injury that required season-ending surgery. While the Timberwolves have fallen out of the playoff picture as yet another Timberwolves season comes to a merciless end. The Celtics on the other hand are still battling to improve their seeding in the Eastern Conference. A top 4 seed and home court advantage is quite likely out of the question (#4 Brooklyn is currently 4 games ahead), however Boston currently sits at #7 and just 2.5 games behind the #5 Chicago & #6 Atlanta and just 2.5 games ahead of #8 Milwaukee. The Celtics have been doing themselves any favors with their play as of late. Boston has lost six of their last eight games as well as six of their last seven road games. A big part of that can probably be attributed to behing without their big man Kevin Garnett. With KG in the lineup, Boston has struggled on the boards. Kevin Garnett's absence has given Jeff Green a chance to shine and he's delivered. Green is averaging 20.2ppg on 52.5% FG in his last 10 contests. If the Celts are without Garnett AND Pierce, they'll need a big night from their versatile forward. While the Celtics have struggled lately, the Wolves have put together a nice stretch of games. The Wolves are 3-3 in their last six games. That's not great, but if you've been following the Wolves all season, you know it's a good stretch for MIN. Of those three wins, the highlight was a win over the powerhouse Oklahoma City Thunder late last week. The Wolves are facing a Celtics team that has beaten them in the last eleven consecutive meetings (ten of those coming since KG was traded to Boston in the summer of 2007). These two teams have already met once this season and this is the last matchup of the year. The first meeting came back on Dec. 5th in Boston. The result was a 94-104 loss. Kevin Garnett & Paul Pierce each scored 18 points, which contributed to the Celtics shooting 52.6% from the field. The Wolves should be able to take advantage of no KG or Pierce as well as Boston's struggles on the road. The Celtics are 13-24 away from Boston this season, they've lost six of their last seven on the road and are averaging just 88.7ppg in their last seven road games. Let's take a look at tonight's probable starting lineup...
I pray that Pekovic can play tonight, because if he does and he's healthy, he may score 30+ Without Kevin Garnet manning the middle the Celtics are relying on big men Brandon Bass & Chris Wilcox to lock down the paint and crash the boards. If Pek can't play, Greg Stiemsma (3.9P, 3.1R, 1.2B) will continue to start at center.
The Celtics started a Bradley-Pierce-Green-Bass-Wilcox lineup in their game on Sunday, but I'd assume with Paul Pierce sitting out, Courtney Lee will be back in the starting lineup, teaming up with Bradley in the backcourt. While I hope Pek can play, so he can dominate in the paint, Derrick Williams is set up to have a good game himself. Williams should be able to churn out a 20-10 game. Bass isn't quite as athletic as Williams and isn't really known for his defensive prowess. Add to that the rebounding void left by KG (their leading rebounder) and D-Will should also be able to return to double digits on the boards. It's certainly a battle of the injury-ravaged in this one, it should be a good game nonetheless, 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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