The Minnesota Timberwolves make their first visit to the Barclays Center to face off against the Nets of Brooklyn. The TWolves have won five of the last six matchups versus the Nets. These two teams played just one game last season--a 108-105 Minnesota win. The Timberwolves are 1-1 on the season and 0-1 on the road. The Brooklyn Nets have played just one game, thus far (they were supposed to face New York last week, but that was postponed due to Hurricane Sandy). The last matchup for both teams was the Toronto Raptors... The Brooklyn Nets defeated Toronto on Saturday night, 107-100. The Raptors were within two points with 1:17 to play, but that's as close as they'd get as the Nets were able to hang on for the W. Brook Lopez had 27pts, 5reb, 1stl, 1blk; Williams added 19pts, 1reb, 9ast; new-Net Joe Johnson had 14pts, 5reb, 4ast, 1stl and former Bull C.J. Watson came off the bench with 15pts, 2reb, 1ast, 1stl, 2blks. The Minnesota Timberwolves were defeated by the Toronto Raptors on Sunday night, 86-105. The TWolves were able to pull within two points in the third quarter, however thanks to 24 turnovers, that the Raptors scored 32 points off of, it was clear why Minny lost. The TWolves were also out-rebounded on the offensive glass: 8-16, which meant Toronto got 32 extra possessions! Kirilenko had 17pts, 6reb, 3ast, 1stl, 3blks; Pekovic added 15pts, 3reb, 1ast, 1stl, 1blk and Luke Ridnour finished with 8pts, 5reb, 5ast, 3stls. The Timberwolves will (of course) be without Kevin Love & Ricky Rubio, however they could also be without their best reserve: J.J. Barea. J.J. was knocked to the floor on a drive to the basket in the second quarter vs. the Raptors, Cunningham sprinted down the lane and accidentally kicked him in the head, knocking him out of the game. Barea was diagnosed with a mild concussion and had this to say following the loss about the game vs. the Nets, "I'll proabably play. It all depends on the trainers. I've got to take another test (Monday) to make sure." Barea also added, "My face hurts , I've got a couple of cuts in the mouth, but other than that I'm all right." The Brooklyn Nets will be without small forwards Gerald Wallace and Josh Childress. Both will miss Monday's matchup with sprained left ankles. Reports say Keith Bogans will get the start in Wallace's place. Let's take a look at the probable starting lineups...
If Minnesota turns the ball over 24 times against the Nets, I guarantee the Wolves will lose by a whole lot more than 19 points. The Nets are better at every position when you compare them to the Raptors (when healthy). The TWolves' advantage lies at that shooting guard position. If there was ever a game the Wolves needed a big game out of Brandon Roy--to get him going--Monday night vs. the Nets wouldn't be a bad choice. However everything we saw from him vs. the Raptors on Saturday was BAD.
Minnesota is going to have a tough time in this one if they can't turn things around from Saturday night. Here's hoping for big games from Pek, AK47, Roy and the a triumphant return from J.J. Barea. That's all for now, tipoff for this one is set for 6:30pmCT and a full gameday recap won't be on this site until late Monday night (likely around 11pmCT or so). Until then, thanks for reading HOWL and GO WOLVES!
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Cody D. AndersonA Wolves fan bringing you Gameday Recaps all season long! 2014-15 Game ArchivesGameday Archives
December 2015
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