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Minnesota Timberwolves vs. Portland Trail Blazers, 2/4/13

February 4, 2013 by

Rubio-BatumSetting the stage:

The Timberwolves continue their homestand Monday night against division rival Portland.  Minnesota is fresh off of their blowout victory against New Orleans on Saturday night and look to continue to roll through this stretch of home games.  The win moved the Wolves to 18-26 on the season but are still well behind in the race for the playoffs.

Portland also comes into Monday’s game off of a win on Saturday night, defeating the Jazz at home.  The Blazers actually had one of the rare back-to-back home and away games against the same team, losing to the Jazz on Friday night in Utah.  Portland is 24-23 on the season and one game behind Houston for the 8th seed in the conference

The Blazers have defeated the Wolves in both of the earlier match-ups this season, winning 103-95 in Portland on 11/23 and then again in Minnesota on 1/5 by a 102-97 score.  Rookie Damian Lillard has lit up the Wolves in both games averaging 24 points and 7 assists in the two games.  With Rubio looking more like his former self in the past week or two, it will be interesting to see if he and the rest of the Wolves backcourt can do a better job of containing Lillard.

Player to watch:

Nic Batum – The almost Timberpup is putting together a very nice season, averaging 15.9 points, 6.1 rebounds and 4.9 assists a game.  He’s become much more of a focal point in the Blazers’ offense and is successfully proving his doubters wrong.  While he didn’t score much in the first meeting against the Wolves this season (9 points), he did fill the box score and contributed in other aspects of the game.  In January’s meeting in Minnesota, Batum erupted for 26 points, putting his talents on display for the Minnesota faithful.  The match-up between he and Kirilenko will be a joy to watch.

Match-up to watch:

Ricky Rubio vs. Damian Lillard.  Ricky is the highlighted man in this preview again, as he has another tough test in front of him on Monday.  As previously mentioned, Lillard has had a lot of success in the two meetings with the Wolves this season.  Now that Ricky is seemingly getting back to normal, it will be interesting to see how he can contain the rookie.  Rubio is coming off a highlight reel filled performance on Saturday night, with 9 points and 7 assists in only 22 minutes of action – due to the scoreboard and not his leg injury.  In fact, over the weekend Adelman mentioned that he is no longer limiting Rubio’s minutes and that he will be playing 32 mpg or so, which is what he would normally be slotted for according to the coach.

Predictions:

This is a tough match-up for the Wolves but I’m going to say that the momentum from Saturday’s game against New Orleans carries over for one more evening.

Final score prediction: Twolves 102, Blazers 100

Three stars of the game predictions:

  1. Nikola Pekovic
  2. Alexey Shved
  3. LaMarcus Aldridge

Let’s go Wolves!

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Preview: Minnesota Timberwolves vs. New Orleans Hornets, 2/2/13

February 2, 2013 by

Pelican BrowSetting the stage:

The Timberwolves and Pelicans (Hornets) face off for the third time this season on Saturday night at the Target Center.  The teams have split the two earlier match-ups, with the Wolves winning on 12/14 and then New Orleans returning the favor on 1/11.  This will be the Pelicans first trip to Minnesota this season.

The Wolves come in on a six game losing streak and have lost eleven of their last twelve.  To say this season has turned sour might be an early contestant for “understatement of the year – 2013”.  After losing to the Lakers on Friday night, there isn’t much more that needs to be said about how or why this team is struggling.

The Pelicans come into the game losers of three straight and are also coming off of a loss Friday night In Denver.  While the team remains in the cellar of the Western Conference, things have slightly picked up for the team since the return of Eric Gordon.  The good news for Pups fans is that Saturday’s game comes at the end of a back-to-back for the Hornets and Gordon may not be playing as a precaution.  (We’ll keep you posted via the comments below if/when there is official word from the club.)

Player to watch:

Anthony Davis – Despite being the #1 pick and having a pretty solid rookie season to date, I have not paid much attention to Anthony Davis at all.  His first performance against the Wolves was right around his season averages, putting up an 11 & 7 evening.  However, he had a tough second game, finishing with 9 points but 0 rebounds.  It will be interesting to see what Pekovic can do in the paint.  If Pekovic can get Robin Lopez in foul trouble, he should be able to beat up Davis in the paint.

Match-up to watch:

Ricky Rubio vs. Greivis Vasquez.  The only similarities between these two might be their body frame and facial hair.  However, both are critical to their teams’ respective success.  Vasquez has dominated the Pups in the two prior games this season, finishing the games with 15 & 16 (points & assists) and 18 & 13 several weeks ago.  Rubio will need to contain Greivis Saturday night if the Pups have any hope of breaking this losing streak.

Predictions:

This has to end at some point, right?  Right?!

Final score prediction: Twolves 106, Pelicans 101

Three stars of the game predictions:

  1. Ricky Rubio
  2. Nikola Pekovic
  3. Greivis Vasquez

Let’s go Wolves!

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Preview: Minnesota Timberwolves vs. Los Angeles Clippers (1/17/13)

January 16, 2013 by

blakegriffin_chrispaulSetting the stage:

The Pups return home to the Target Center for Thursday night’s game against the LA Clippers.  As an added bonus, TNT will be carrying the game to a national audience.  When TNT picked this game up, I wonder if they thought the Twolves would be down to approximately eight healthy bodies, no Kevin Love, and an extremely limited Ricky Rubio.  I doubt it.

Minnesota is coming off a dreadful road trip losing all four games in a particularly ugly fashion.  The locker room also has the flu bug going around it, so we probably won’t know who is going to be available for the team and who isn’t until minutes before the opening tip.  While Rick Adelman stopped by the team on Wednesday, it does not sound like he plans on joining them on the sidelines just yet, leaving Terry Porter in the driver’s seat.

Back in late November, the Pups lost to the Clippers in LA 101-95.  Around that time, it was kosher to poke fun at how the Clippers were playing well, but were still a team coached by Vinny Del Negro.  In fact, I may have done that in our preview prior to the game.  Fast forward to mid-January and the Clippers are once again proving me wrong, holding the second best record in the league at 30-9 and percentage points behind OKC for the top spot in the conference.

It must be nice to have your star players at full health all season and players being able to fill the roles that they are supposed to be in, not trying to make them into something they’re not.  Chris Paul and Blake Griffin obviously lead the way here, but the team is getting solid contributions on the wing from Jamal Crawford, Matt Barnes, and Caron Butler.  Throw in the continued maturity of DeAndre Jordan and there you have it, a 30-9 team battling with the best in the league.

Player to watch:

Chris Paul – Paul killed the Pups back in late November and no one should be surprised if it happens again Thursday night.  What little chance of a letdown the Twolves faithful might be hoping for from a top team coming into Minnesota is likely nullified by the game being broadcast on TNT.  Get ready for the pre and post game interviews with Paul (or Blake) and all the nausea that comes with it from the studio.

Match-up to watch:

Nikola Pekovic vs. DeAndre Jordan.  These two played to about a draw in November, with Pek going for 11 & 10 and 4 fouls in almost 33 minutes of action, while Jordan went for 15 & 6 and 4 fouls in just under 27 minutes.  I expect more of the same from these two heavyweights Thursday night.  Quite honestly, the only way the Pups win this game is with Pekovic having a career-like performance on both ends of the floor.

Predictions:

Despite the two days off, the Twolves are in a slide and I don’t see how having the second best team in the league coming to town helps the situation.

Final score prediction: Twolves 92, Clippers 106

Three stars of the game predictions:

  1. Chris Paul
  2. Jamal Crawford
  3. Andrei Kirilenko

Let’s go Wolves!

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Minnesota Timberwolves 92 – New Orleans Hornets 104

January 12, 2013 by

We’re live from a couch in New Jersey for tonight’s game “recap”.  The Wolves finally play on a Friday night and it happens to come from one of my favorite cities in the US, New Orleans.  Throw in a week in Mexico City and we’ve decided to go with a running diary of tonight’s events.  Let us know what you think about this style of game recap as it is something I would be willing to do for future Friday night games.  As an added bonus, I’ll timestamp everything using the Central time zone.  “You’re welcome America!” – Will Ferrell

7:00pm (CT):  We’re live from the couch with our friend Arthur Guinness.  NBA LP is providing the Hornets/Pelicans broadcast, which allows me another opportunity to complain about how poor LP is relative to MLB.TV and the NFL’s Sunday Ticket.  MLB.TV allows you to pick the broadcast you want to listen to every night.  This really can’t happen for NBA LP?  What year is it again?

7:05: The Hornets broadcast highlights that their team is fully healthy tonight and they have everyone available.  Conversely, earlier tonight the Wolves reported that Lazar Hayward is also out with the flu and the team is down to 9 players for tonight’s game.  We’re probably two weeks away from plucking someone from the stands to play a few minutes.

7:09: Twolves starters = Ridnour, Shved, Kirilenko, Cunningham, and Pekovic.  Hornets starters = Vasquez, Gordon, Aminu, Davis, and Lopez.

7:11: Pekovic opens the game with a ridiculous up and under that falls for the big guy and gives the Twolves a 2-0 lead.  Don’t worry I have no intention of recapping every point.

7:12: Pekovic is off to a huge start with three straight baskets against Lopez and we’ll probably see Anthony Davis move over to guard him in a few seconds.  Wolves lead 6-0.

7:14: The Hornets broadcast cover the Wolves’ injuries and is going in depth on Brandon Roy.  “Hi Arthur, how are you this evening?”

7:15: AK47 with four straight points via running the baseline and we have our first timeout of the game with the Pups up 13-9.

7:20: Real sloppy basketball for the past few minutes, followed by a couple of nice passes from Shved and Ridnour on the break leading to two FT’s for Kirilenko.  Who bricks the first and makes the second.  Wolves go up 16-9.

7:22: Shved with another nice pass to Pekovic for another bucket in the paint.

7:23: All 2,000 Hornets fans in the building didn’t like the foul called on Gordon against Pekovic.  That puts the Hornet in the penalty already and the Wolves up 20-9.

7:26: The Hornets finally score a bucket, breaking a 16-0 run by the Wolves, who hold a 25-11 lead going into the second timeout of the game.

7:29: Hornets broadcast shows Café du Monde coming back from a commercial break, immediately reminding me that I need to get back to New Orleans sooner rather than later.  If you haven’t been there … go!

7:34: At the end of the first quarter, the Pups lead by 15 points, 29-14.  That was a very ugly quarter from the Pelicans who turned the ball over way too much and gave up way too many points in the paint.

7:37: Derrick Williams just made a double pump layup driving to the basket off of a Rubio behind the back pass.  Read that sentence again and let’s hope that happens a lot over the next few weeks.

7:39: DWill!  That was his third basket in a row and goes to the line to make it a three point play.  The Wolves lead 36-19 and this diary may become a superstition for Friday games if this keeps up.

7:41: Jason Smith just leveled Rubio on a pick and just became the number one villain in the NBA … for at least a few hours.

19412_10151252295419261_1053462112_n7:44: Andre Kirilenko just faked Anthony Davis out of the gym for an easy bucket.  Beautiful post move there from AK47.

7:48: Anthony Davis tried to dunk the ball from about seven feet away and gets called for an offensive foul.  Yikes.

7:50: The Hornets are on a little bit of a run, cutting the lead to 13 points, 39-26, with a fast break layup leading to a Twolves timeout.

7:55: The Hornets continue their run before Pekovic gets an easy basket in the paint.  The Wolves lead 41-32.

8:02: At halftime, the Wolves lead 46-40 after a sloppy second quarter with too many turnovers.  I’m not sure what happened, but it seemed like Porter lost track of DWill on the bench after a very nice stint on the floor early in the second quarter.

8:17: We’re back for the second half!

8:18: The Hornets score the first four of the half and have the lead down to two.  Ugh!

8:21: Luke Ridnour just pulled up for a three pointer on the break and threw up an air ball.  Side note: I just did a few 12 ounce curls to finish my halftime workout.

8:24: Thankfully, Eric Gordon is still a little rusty and is missing a number of open looks.

8:25: With that said, the Hornets still tie the game at 50, leading to a Pups timeout.

8:31: We have the first lead of the night for the Hornets, 57-56.  Consider this your warning for the rest of the diary, as things could get ugly here.

8:33: Obviously, I hope everything is OK with Adelman’s wife and his personal life, but please return as soon as you can.  Terry Porter sitting on the bench throws his legs up in the air and yells at his players from his seat as Ryan Anderson flails his arms and gets a tip-in layup, giving the Hornets a 64-58 lead.

8:39: Dear Ricky Rubio, please start looking to take a jump shot a lot more often.

8:41: At the end of another abysmal third quarter from the Wolves, the Hornets lead 70-61.  Yes, that is a 27 point swing in this game.  (Walks to refrigerator…)

8:42: Apparently “The Rock” has a new movie coming out soon, as they just aired a WWE commercial coming to the New Orleans area with Dwayne in the promotion.

8:46: AK47 just drove to the lane and tried to windmill dunk over Jason Smith and missed.  However, he got the foul called and made them both.  The Wolves are still down 76-65.

8:48: Shved holding his arm after being fouled on the fast break as the game goes to a timeout.  At this point, they could announce “bone chips in his elbow, will not return” after the commercial break and I wouldn’t be surprised.

8:51: Shved is alive and makes both free throws to cut the lead to 9 points.  Let’s go Wolves!!

8:52: Why do arenas still play Kris Kross’ “Jump” going into jump balls?  There really hasn’t been a song since 1992 that is more or of equal fitting?

8:55: Driving DWill is much more appealing when compared to jump shooting DWill.

8:56: I’ll say it – Greg Stiemsma has been regressing since the third week of the season and looks awful these days.

9:00: Ridnour just launched a three pointer in transition, missed it, and then picked up a dumb foul on Jason Smith on the rebound, putting New Orleans in the bonus on the next foul.

9:07: The Pups cannot hit a three pointer to save their lives (2-16 for the game at this point).

9:08: Ridnour throws the ball away and seals the fate of this game with two minutes to go with the Hornets up 15.

9:10: Naturally, Ridnour just hit a three pointed to cut the lead to 10, which is virtually meaningless in the grand scheme of things (unless he gets hot over the next week).

9:12: Kirilenko hits another, meaningless three pointer for the Wolves.

9:13: Ridnour increases his shooting percentage as the buzzer sounds, but the Wolves lose in New Orleans 104-92.

This was a terrible loss for the team.  I can’t use injuries as an excuse anymore because the team is going to be dealing with significant injuries for the next two months.  For the first time this season, and note that I have missed the last few games, I don’t believe the Pups will make the playoffs this season.  There has to be a point where you say “mercy” on the injuries and I think that time has come.

Three Stars of the Game:

  1. Greivis Vasquez – 18 points and 13 assists.  The Hornets broadcast pushed for his candidacy for ‘Most Improved Player’ in the NBA and I have a hard time finding a rebuttal.
  2. Al-Farouq Aminu – 12 points and 13 rebounds to go with quick hands and athleticism.  He really outplayed AK47 tonight.
  3. Nikola Pekovic – 18 points for the Wolves and really just gets the nod because no one really stood out for either team in this game beyond Vasquez and Aminu.
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Minnesota Timberwolves 84 – Oklahoma City Thunder 106

January 10, 2013 by
Photo Credit: (Layne Murdoch/NBAE via Getty Images)

Photo Credit: (Layne Murdoch/NBAE via Getty Images)

Game Summary

Facing off against the Oklahoma City Thunder for the second time this season, the Minnesota Timberwolves hoped to start 2-0 against the defending Western Conference Champions playing in a sold-out Chesapeake Energy Arena. Once again without head coach Rick Adelman who has missed the previous two games due to personal reasons, the T-wolves simply lacked the star power to gain any sort of control in this game, and fell by a score of 106-84.

With word coming out that Kevin Love will indeed require surgery to repair his broken right hand and will most likely miss between 8 and 10 weeks, the Wolves will now rest their hopes for making the playoffs in a successful return from Ricky Rubio. Rubio appears to be improving his conditioning as of late and did a much better job of staying in front of OKC PG Russell Westbrook than he did the previous time these two teams met. While he did not score a point on 0-3 shooting, Rubio dished out 7 assists in 22 minutes while turning the ball over twice.

JJ Barea was a late scratch due to back spasms, and Luke Ridnour was forced to assume a larger role despite an unfavorable matchup against Westbrook. Ridnour, who has had a miserable time shooting the ball this season, noticeably lacks the quickness he once had and is too often settling for contested jump-shots when he chooses to shoot. His decision-making has been questionable this season, and the Wolves really miss having Rubio be able to play entire games, especially fourth quarters. In 31 minutes, Ridnour had 11 points on 4-9 shooting while turning the ball over 3 times.

With strong play as of late, Derrick Williams was rewarded with 28 minutes of playing time but struggled to get in a groove against a tough defensive frontcourt. Although he recorded 14 points and 11 rebounds, Williams was -23 on the floor and had a very tough time finishing at the rim with Serge Ibaka and Kendrick Perkins defending the basket. The thing that I was most frustrated with was the D-Will attempted only 1 three-point attempt in his 15 shots, and I believe that his three-point shooting will be vital to the Wolves’ success if they are to make a legitimate run at the playoffs.

Keys to the Game 

  • Turnovers – OKC 12, MN 19: The turnover battle was essential for OKC controlling the game, as Minnesota was never able to effectively get into a rhythm in the half court offense. Russell Westbrook, who averages 3.5 turnovers per game this season, committed only 1 turnover in 30 minutes of play and did a very good job securing the basketball. While we are so often used to seeing Westbrook drive the lane out of control and turning the ball over, he was very smart about deciding when to drive and when to dump off to a teammate. For the Pups, the primary scapegoat was Alexey Shved, who scored 18 points but turned the ball over a game-high 7 times in 39 minutes. One thing that Shved has to pay particular attention to is not leaving his feet before making passes, as it makes him increasingly vulnerable to turnovers which usually lead to transition buckets for the opposing team. On the pick-and-roll, he needs to keep the ball lower and tighter to his body in order to effectively fend off ball swipers on the perimeter, especially because he does not yet have the strength to overpower most of his defenders.
  • Three-point Shooting – OKC 11-20, MN 3-13: Nothing new here with the Pups shooting woes from long range. All 3 thee-pointers were knocked down by either one of the two Russian imports, and Minnesota’s best three-point shooter, Derrick Williams, attempted only 1 three-pointer in this game. Missing Love, Barea and Budinger certainly removes most of the Pups ability to shoot threes, but the lack of perimeter shooting by Ridnour this season is very unsettling. Much of Luke’s role on this team for the past two seasons relied on his ability to knock down open three-pointers, but he has been an absolute non-factor from the perimeter this season as shown by his 31% rate from downtown. For OKC, Durant and Westbrook were a combined 5-8 from beyond the arc and Minnesota defenders did not do a good enough job of closing out and contesting shots. Kevin Martin also knocked down 4 of his 7 tries off the bench after missing OKC’s previous matchup against the Wolves.
  • Fast Break Points – OKC 23, MN 8: The Thunder capitalized on Minnesota’s turnovers by scoring 23 points in transition, and Durant and Westbrook are simply unstoppable when running the floor on fast breaks. When you shoot yourself in the foot as many times as the Pups did, it is very difficult to win when you have two of the best players in the NBA running the floor in 3-on-2 and 2-on-1 situations.

Three Stars of the Game

  1. Russell Westbrook – Russ was nearly perfect tonight, controlling the OKC offense while taking over the scoring duties when opportunities presented themselves to him. Needing to play only 30 minutes in the blowout victory, Westbrook scored 23 points on 7-14 shooting (3-4 3FG) while tallying 8 rebounds and 7 assists, he turned the ball over just once and was a game-high +22 on the floor. 
  2. Kevin Durant – He’s lean, he’s mean, he’s KD! OKC’s original superstar gave the fans plenty to cheer about with 26 points on 10-17 shooting (2-4 3FG), 8 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals, 4 blocks and 3 turnovers. Since the departure of James Harden, both Durant and Westbrook have expanded their games and are doing a little more of everything this season. KD did a great job against one of the top perimeter defenders in Andrei Kirilenko, knocking down seemingly every open look he got tonight and stopping any momentum that the Wolves tried gaining.
  3. Nikola Pekovic – Big Pek is turning into Mr. Consistency this season and despite playing with an injured hip notched another double-double of 17 points and 10 rebounds (5 offensive). Nikola converted on 6 of his 10 shot attempts, while the Pups did a very poor job of finding him on the low block. At this point, in order for the Wolves to be at their best they are going to need to flow the offense through Pekovic in the low post and initiate the offense with his scoring in the paint. This means more lateral ball movement to the weak-side to allow lane penetration and quick dump offs to Pek waiting on the block.

 

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Minnesota Timberwolves 108 – Atlanta Hawks 103

January 9, 2013 by
Photo Credit: (Hannah Foslien/Associated Press)

Photo Credit: (Hannah Foslien/Associated Press)

These Timberwolves know how to battle through adversity. With the news that Kevin Love may be facing season-ending surgery on his injured right wrist surfacing in the media, the Wolves battled past the 20-12 Atlanta Hawks 108-103 backed by strong offensive performances by Nikola Pekovic, Andrei Kirilenko and Derrick Williams. With Rick Adelman missing the game due to personal reasons, Terry Porter coached the Timberpups in a decisive victory that rejuvenated Target Center fans in need of a lift.

Game Summary

Atlanta presented favorable matchups for Minnesota, as the Hawks’ offense is heavily dependent on three-point shooting and struggles in the interior. Luckily for the Pups, Atlanta turned the ball over 15 times to only 9 by Minnesota.

This game was won on the low block, where the Wolves scored nearly half of their total points (50) in the paint. The Hawks saw strong offensive performances from both Josh Smith and Al Horford, but received only 12 points from their second unit frontcourt. Meanwhile, Minnesota’s bigs led by Pekovic, Kirilenko and Williams did work in the half-court offense while Dante Cunningham and Greg Stiemsma provided excellent interior defense in 27 and 13 minutes, respectively.

A statistic that pops out to me is the Timberwolves 29 assists as a team on 40 made field goals, exclipsing their season average of 21 assists per game by 8. This is not meant to be a knock on K-Love, but the fact remains that the ball tends to move much quicker laterally without Love’s one-on-one offensive mindset on the floor. Obviously, this team misses Love’s versatility and ability to score one-on-one, but it is very nice to see this offense clicking through effective cutting and ball movement. Ricky Rubio led the team with 8 assits and Alexey Shved notched 7 dimes.

One may not have noticed from watching the game, but the Hawks actually out-rebounded the Pups 44-43 despite coming into the game as one of the worst rebounding teams in the league. Granted, many of their boards were the result of long rebounds of missed three-point attempts, but K-Love’s absence in the paint was definitely felt by Minnesota.

Entering the game as the worst three-point shooting team in the NBA, the Wolves initially appeared to be at a great disadvantage against the 6th ranked Hawks from deep. However, Derrick Williams stepped up and knocked down 3 of his 5 attempts from range, including 7 of his 13 attempts from the field. D-Will leads the Timberwolves in three-point shooting percentage and is now sitting at 40%. Pretty impressive improvement from the 21-year-old.

Following his 18-point fourth quarter against Portland, Williams scored 17 points in only 21 minutes and now owns a PER of over 16. Although he has failed to provide a large sample of sustained efficiency, the trends of late cannot be ignored. I like the current rotation of Cunningham as starter and Williams as the 6-man, but if Derrick continues to shoot as well as he has been, it will be hard for coach to keep him out of the starting lineup.

Three Stars of the Game

  1. Nikola Pekovic: With Kevin Love injured, Nikola continues to keep this team competent on the low block and used his brute strength and footwork to dominate opposing center Al Horford. Pek thrived when rolling off of screens and did a tremendous job of catching and shooting quick looks near the rim leading to 25 points on 9 for 15 shooting. Facing a relatively soft Atlanta frontcourt, Pek made the most of his chances and did a good job of staying out of foul trouble which allowed him to record 35 minutes of playing time. Not to mention he hauled in 18 rebounds (6 offensive) while turning the ball over once, Pek took everyones minds off of Love with his superior play.
  2. Andrei Kirilenko: Despite failing to record his 1,000th career steal, AK-47 enjoyed a hyper-efficient night shooting due to a favorable matchup against the defensively-incompetent Kyle Korver. Kirilenko operated well cutting weak side and finding open teammates on backdoor cuts. Statistically, AK was nearly perfect: 21 points (7-11 FG, 2-2 3FG, 5-5 FT), 6 rebounds and 5 assists while not recording a single turnover or personal foul. He was also extremely active on the defensive end and closed out his three-point shooting opposition effectively.
  3. Ricky Rubio: I have gravely missed watching Ricky put on performances like he did tonight. Playing only 19 minutes given his recovery from not only knee surgery but most recently back spasms, Rubio put on a passing clinic as he tallied 8 assists in as short of a time while also swiping 4 steals. A game-high +10 on the floor, Tricky Ricky was a large factor in Derrick Williams’ success as he continually set him up for open looks and fed his confidence shooting the ball. A remarkable thing to note is that while Rubio held the highest +/- of any player on the floor, he was 0-0 from the field and scored only 4 points (points are superficial, right?). The key for our favorite Catalan going forward will be staying healthy and gradually building up his minutes on the floor, because it will not help anybody if he reinjures himself by pushing too hard when he shouldn’t (see: Kevin Love).

 

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Preview: Minnesota Timberwolves at Denver Nuggets

January 3, 2013 by

Photo Credit: Carlos Gonzalez, Minneapolis Star Tribune

Photo Credit: Carlos Gonzalez, Minneapolis Star Tribune

Setting the stage:
For the third time already this season, the Wolves face the Nuggets on Thursday night in Denver. This will be the second game of a back to back and the Wolves will once again be without Ricky Rubio. The thin air of Denver for a team that barely has enough healthy bodies to fill a rotation. Not to mention, the Wolves have had very few back to back experiences thus far in the season. This may not end well.

The Nuggets beat the Wolves at Target Center on 11/21, 101-94. The Wolves returned the favor on 12/12/12 (sorry, couldn’t resist), beating the Nuggets 108-105. Minnesota is coming off a bad loss Wednesday night in Utah where they looked lifeless, being blown out 106-84. Conversely, Denver is coming off of a win Tuesday night against the hottest team in the NBA, the Clippers.

The Nuggets are 18-15 on the year, good for second place in the Northwest division and seventh in the Western Conference. They remain one of the strongest offensive teams in the league, averaging 101.6 ppg (8th in the league) and 23.1 apg (5th). The Nuggets lead the league in rebounding at 46.3 per game, a slight advantage over the Lakers and Wolves.

As mentioned in Wednesday’s preview for the Jazz game, tonight is another important game for the Wolves against a division and conference opponent with similar playoff aspirations.

Player to watch:
Kevin Love – It is no secret that Love is struggling mightily from the field this season. Broken hand or not, he is letting these struggles negatively affect other elements of his game. His jump shot looks broken. As suggested during last night’s game in Utah, it might be worth creating a little bit of a wake-up call to Love and the rest of the locker room to challenge him to work more in the paint, particularly when Pekovic is out of the game. The Wolves need Love to get going … quickly.

Match-up to watch:
Andrei Kirilenko vs. Danilo Gallinari. Much like this Nuggets team in its totality, Danilo’s night in and night out performance continues to be a head scratcher for me. The volatility in how he performs from game to game is pretty amazing. In four games in five nights during Christmas week, Danilo put up 7, 19, 39, and 7 points respectively. You could understand the latter 7 point game as fatigue, but he has thrown up eight games in single digits thus far this season.

It will be interesting to see how Kirilenko responds to not only playing on back to back nights, but the 30+ minutes he put in on his emotional return to Utah. He has had his problems stopping Danilo in the two earlier meetings this season.

Predictions:
No Rubio, the end of a back to back, and the Denver air = Twolves loss.
Final score prediction: Twolves 102, Nuggets 108

Three stars of the game predictions:
1. Ty Lawson
2. Andre Iguodala
3. Nikola Pekovic

Hope the Pups can prove me wrong. Let’s go Wolves!

Filed Under: Game Previews Tagged With: , , , , , ,
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