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!
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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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