Timberwolves Preview: Another three-game winning streak?
The Timberwolves look for another three-game winning streak in what has been a series of them as they travel to Cleveland to take on a Kevin Love-less Cavaliers squad.
Minnesota is on an impressive run of late, winning eight of their last 11 games and five out of the last six. The streak has seen two three-game winning streaks broken up briefly by a total of three losses, and the Timberwolves have won the last two times out over both the Nets and the Magic.
That means that on Wednesday night in Cleveland, the Wolves have a shot at yet another three-game win-streak. Plus, after the Denver Nuggets loss to the Lakers on Tuesday, Minnesota is just two-and-a-half games back of the eight-spot in the Western Conference.
The Cavaliers will be without Kevin Love, who has been ruled out due to lower-back spasms. Also, J.R. Smith is still out after thumb surgery. The Wolves are at full-strength.
This should be a good one, and let’s hope that it is: the game will be televised at 6:00 p.m. Central on ESPN.
And now, your preview…
Minnesota Timberwolves Preview
Record: 19-29 (12-14 home, 7-15 road)
Starting Lineup
PG – Ricky Rubio (8.3 PPG, 8 APG, 4 RPG, 1.8 SPG)
SG – Zach LaVine (19.1 PPG, 3.4 RPG, 2.9 APG)
SF – Andrew Wiggins (22.1 PPG, 4.3 RPG, 2.5 APG)
PF – Gorgui Dieng (10.7 PPG, 7.6 RPG, 1.2 BPG)
C – Karl Anthony-Towns (23 PPG, 11.9 RPG, 1.5 BPG)
Key Reserves
Shabazz Muhammad was relatively quiet on Monday night, at least in comparison to how hot he’s been of late. While he did tally 10 points, it took him 10 shots to do it in 22 minutes. He didn’t turn the ball over, however, and he managed to grab five rebounds.
Nemanja Bjelica, on the other hand, played one of his better games in recent memory, with a key block to start overtime and a pretty assist on the ensuing Wolves possession. He shot 3-for-4 from the field and grabbed four rebounds in the win.
Kris Dunn‘s play has continued to level off, with fewer highs and, more importantly, even fewer lows of late. He’s turning into a solid backup, and his play will need to continue at it’s current level if this team is going to squeeze their way into postseason play.
Cleveland Cavaliers Preview
Record: 32-15 (21-5 home, 11-10 road)
Starting Lineup
PG – Kyrie Irving (24.4 PPG, 5.7 APG, 3.4 RPG)
SG – Iman Shumpert (8 PPG, 2.8 RPG, 1.6 APG)
SF – Richard Jefferson (5.3 PPG, 2.3 RPG, 0.9 APG)
PF – LeBron James (25.6 PPG, 8 RPG, 8.5 APG)
C – Tristan Thompson (7.3 PPG, 9.6 RPG, 1.2 BPG)
Key Reserves
With Kevin Love out due to injury, the Cavaliers deployed the above, smallish lineup in their loss to Dallas on Monday night. Against a much bigger Timberwolves lineup featuring two natural centers in Karl-Anthony Towns and Gorgui Dieng, it remains to be seen whether or not the Cavs will stick what’s listed above.
Of course, the Cavs don’t have a true center on the active roster. Guards Kyle Korver and Jordan McRae each played 20+ minutes on Monday, and stretch-four Channing Frye is the other top minutes-getter off the pine.
James is essentially playing power forward in this small-ball lineup, but expect Jefferson to draw the task of guarding Dieng while LeBron checks Andrew Wiggins most of the time.
Three Things To Watch
Jan 25, 2016; Cleveland, OH, USA; Minnesota Timberwolves guard Andrew Wiggins (22) holds the ball while defended by Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James (23) in the first quarter at Quicken Loans Arena. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports
1. Match-ups. A stated on the previous page, the match-ups between a team that is essentially center-less in the Cavaliers and a team that features two center in the starting lineup (and three in the regular rotation if you include the lightly-used Cole Aldrich) are fascinating.
How will a young (albeit championship-winning) coach who has barely been the head man for a full calendar year in Tyronn Lue match wits with Tom Thibodeau, and how will Coach Thibs respond to what will likely be a small-ball lineup? Remember, in the Wolves disappointing loss over two weeks ago in Dallas, the Mavericks out-small-balled Minnesota.
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2. Paint play. The Timberwolves should be able to control the paint in this one, but they’ll need everyone to rebound their position — and that’s no small task when you have LeBron James cross-matching all over the court and nearly averaging a triple-double.
Karl-Anthony Towns and Gorgui Dieng have to come to play. Tristan Thompson is a solid player, but one that the Wolves should be able to marginalize with relative ease.
3. Road vs. home. Most teams in the NBA have fairly extreme road-home splits when it comes to winning percentage. The Cavs are no exception, with a sparkling 21-5 home record compared to a somewhat-shockingly poor 11-10 road mark.
The Wolves have steadied at home, managing a 12-14 tally to this point in the season, but are just 7-15 on the road, with the Atlanta Hawks and a battered Los Angeles Clippers squad still the only teams currently above the .500-mark that Minnesota has defeated away from Target Center.
That trend tells us, of course, that the Cavs are in for a victory on Wednesday evening, but we’ll see if that bears itself out.
Jan 23, 2017; New Orleans, LA, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers head coach Tyronn Lue reacts from the sidelines against the New Orleans Pelicans during the first quarter of a game at the Smoothie King Center. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports
Game Prediction
This is the type of game that could refuel the Timberwolves hype train to near preseason levels. (Although I’m not sure we’ll ever reach that level of hype…it was crazy, wasn’t it?)
Kevin Love is out. The Cavs have lost six out of their last 10 games and lost in Dallas to the lowly Mavs on Monday night. LeBron James is sniping back and forth with Charles Barkley in the media.
But the above reasons are also fuel for the Cavs, no doubt. They don’t want to be embarrassed by the supposedly up-and-coming Wolves, who are still 19-29, mind you, on national television.
Expect a close game until LeBron takes over late, not allowing an upset to take place. It should be a fun one, but Cleveland will prevail by a score of 105-100.
