Brooklyn Nets

Timberwolves vs Nets: Looking to Win Big

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 11:21 p.m. ET

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Fansided, Alex Swendig/FanSided via Dunking with Wolves

Nov 8, 2016; Brooklyn, NY, USA; Brooklyn Nets shooting guard Rondae Hollis-Jefferson (24) dribbles the ball past Minnesota Timberwolves center Cole Aldrich (45) during the third quarter at Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

The Timberwolves square-off against the Brooklyn Nets in Minnesota on Saturday night in a game should be a good opportunity for the Wolves to get a much-needed win in their crawl to the playoffs.

This is it folks: the game of the century. The game sports fans have been waiting years for.

It’s the Minnesota Timberwolves versus the Brooklyn Nets.

A little dramatic, maybe, but this should be a good game for the Wolves. According to most online sports books, have the Wolves set at an 11.5 point favorite. It’s not often to witness the Timberwolves as a double-digit favorite.

The Timberwolves have been playing great lately and have an easy schedule coming up including this game against the Nets. The Wolves are only a few games back from being in the playoff picture, winning six out of their last nine games.

The bench unit for the Wolves has been pulling their weight on offense, Rubio has been dishing out 10+ assists a game, and the team has been finishing the second half. Towns, especially, has been impressive lately, scoring 30+ points in three of the past four games.

The Nets only have nine wins on the season and are a struggling team with a bleak future.

The Wolves have to stay focused, however. They can’t just assume they’re going to win. They have lost to plenty of teams that they should have beaten.

Minnesota Timberwolves Preview

Record: 17-29 (10-14 home, 7-15 road)

Starting Lineup

PG – Ricky Rubio (7.8 PPG, 8.1 APG, 3.9 RPG)

SG – Zach LaVine (19.3 PPG, 3.3 RPG, 3.0 APG)

SF – Andrew Wiggins (22.0 PPG, 4.3 RPG, 2.4 APG)

PF – Gorgui Dieng (10.8 PPG, 7.5 RPG, 1.2 BPG)

C – Karl Anthony-Towns (22.7 PPG, 11.9 RPG, 1.5 BPG)

Key Reserves

Shabazz Muhammad has been on a hot streak of late; in the last five games he’s averaging 13.2 points per contest. He had a rough start to the season but it looks like he’s starting to turn things around. While the Wolves have a pretty weak bench overall, when Shabazz is scoring double-digits the team seems to get wins.

Bjelica isn’t doing too bad himself in terms of using his ability to put up points off the bench. It’s so important for a team to have players that can check-in and still give production on offense.

Kris Dunn is getting better but is still struggling. Going from Providence to the big leagues hasn’t been an easy transition.

Jan 27, 2017; Cleveland, OH, USA; Brooklyn Nets forward Rondae Hollis-Jefferson (24) drives to the basket against Cleveland Cavaliers center Tristan Thompson (13) during the second half at Quicken Loans Arena. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports

Brooklyn Nets Preview

Record: 9-37 (7-17 home, 2-20 road)

Starting Lineup

PG – Spencer Dinwiddie (6.0 PPG, 2.6 APG, 2.6 APG)

SG – Randy Foye (5.4 PPG, 2.4 RPG, 2.2 APG)

SF – Rondae Hollis-Jefferson (8.1 PPG, 4.7 RPG, 2.0 APG)

PF – Bojan Bogdanovic (14.2 PPG, 3.3 RPG, 1.7 APG)

C – Brook Lopez (20.6 PPG, 5.1 RPG, 2.7 APG)

Key Reserves

Sean Kilpatrick is a top player off the bench for the Nets. He scores 14.2 points per game in 26 minutes of play.

Trevor Booker is a solid player; he’s the top rebounder for the Nets grabbing 8.7 boards a game and manages to score 9.9 points per game as well.

Ultimately, the Nets have a team consisting of a lot of role players, outside of Brook Lopez and his 20+ points per game. They rely on breakout performances from either Bogdanovic or Kilpatrick in order to find secondary scoring options.

Jan 26, 2017; Minneapolis, MN, USA; Minnesota Timberwolves center Karl-Anthony Towns (32) looks on after a foul is called in the second half against the Indiana Pacers at Target Center. The Pacers won 109-103. Mandatory Credit: Jesse Johnson-USA TODAY Sports

Three Things to Watch

1. Karl Anthony-Towns’ scoring production. KAT is on an offensive hot streak right now, and you can expect big numbers from him in this one. Thirty-plus points and 15 rebounds is a very strong possibility.

The other night, Towns put up 37 points and 12 rebounds. Do those numbers remind you of the Kevin Love days? They should, and that’s a great sight to see.

2. Lots of offense. The Brooklyn Nets score a lot of points per game and allow a lot of points per game. You can either say they have bad defense or play fast; most sports books have the over under at a relatively crazy 219 points.

The reason you should watch this game is simple: offense is fun. People like to watch scoring, dunking, three-pointers, etc. So while this isn’t the most anticipated game ever, it should be a fun one.

3. Ricky Rubio’s production. Rubio has been playing great lately, having multiple double-double games and dishing out tons of assists. This is big for Minnesota, as when Rubio plays well the team plays well.

There have been plenty of trade rumors tossed around recently. Hopefully, he’ll continue his recent hot streak in this one.

Jan 26, 2017; Minneapolis, MN, USA; Minnesota Timberwolves head coach Tom Thibodeau looks on during the second half against the Indiana Pacers at Target Center. The Pacers won 109-103. Mandatory Credit: Jesse Johnson-USA TODAY Sports

Game Prediction

This should be a win for the Wolves. The Wolves have been playing well of late and that shouldn’t stop anytime soon — especially against the likes of the nine-win Brooklyn Nets.

Brook Lopez should have a solid performance going up against the Wolves interior defense, which has been far too soft at times. Karl-Anthony Towns will get his points, of course, and Andrew Wiggins should be able to have a field day.

Let’s say that the Wolves win by a score of 114-102.

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