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Key: Hungry Like the Wolves
After wrapping up a disappointing month of January, the Wine and Gold will try to get back on track when they take on (another) Western Conference foe on Wednesday night at The Q – welcoming Karl-Anthony Towns to the corner of Huron and Ontario.
Right now, these are two teams heading in different directions – but it’s not the usual direction for either. The Cavaliers, who still boast the Eastern Conference’s best record at 32-15, have dropped four of their previous six games, including a listless effort on Monday night against a Mavericks team without its two top point guards. In that defeat, the Wine and Gold took a brief lead in the first quarter but fell behind in the second and never bounced back – tallying as many turnovers (17) as they had assists.
The T-Wolves, on the other hand, are trending upward after a terrible start to the season – winning five of their previous six games heading into tonight’s matchup.
Cleveland has topped Minnesota in four straight games, topping the T-Wolves by an average of 17.5 points per over that stretch – topping the century mark in each while shooting 51 percent from the floor.
Key: Fit for a King
Over these last couple weeks, LeBron James would probably rather just focus on basketball. But the game’s greatest player has been in the middle of much off-the-court drama, most recently his feud with Charles Barkley – finally firing back after taking the high road over the years.
One off-the-court development that he was eager to address is winning the NAACP’s prestigious Jackie Robinson Award for his achievements in the pursuit of social justice, civil rights and community involvement. For all of his prolific accomplishments in the game of basketball, he’s equally transcendent off the floor – from politics to entertainment to his work with disadvantaged youth through his Family Foundation. If there’s an individual in today’s fractured society worthy of being called “the King” – it’s LeBron James.
El Rey is coming off yet another rock-solid performance – albeit in Monday’s difficult loss in Dallas, leading Cleveland in all three major categories – finishing with 23 points on 9-for-19 shooting, adding nine boards and nine assists.
James has posted five double-doubles in his last seven games and is the NBA’s only player averaging at least 25.0 points, 8.0 rebounds and 8.0 assists, while shooting .500 or better from the field.
Key: Big Electric KAT
It’s still too early to label Minnesota’s versatile big man, Karl-Anthony Towns a superstar. But it’s easy to see that he’s well on his way.
The former No. 1 overall pick leads the T-Wolves in scoring (23.0 ppg) and rebounding (11.9 rpg) and he’s also demonstrated amazing range – shooting 48 percent (14-for-29) from long-range over the last 12 games. As Minnesota continues to surge in the standings, having won eight of their last 11, Towns is averaging 28.3 points and 12.7 boards, shooting nearly 61 percent from the floor over that stretch.
Earlier this season, he went off for 47 points in a win over the Knicks and two weeks ago, dropped 37 points on the Clippers, netting 15 of those in the fourth quarter of the victory. After posting the best rookie season in Timberwolves franchise history, he’s been even better as a sophomore.
He’ll be a tall order, literally, for Tristan Thompson – who followed up arguably his best game of the season on Sunday (19 points, 12 rebounds, four steals, four blocks) with one his worst the following night in Dallas, going scoreless without attempting a single field goal in 25 minutes of play.
The Wine and Gold will need Sunday afternoon Tristan if they hope to slow down the Big KAT and the T-Wolves on Wednesday night.
Key: Right from the Shump
January wasn’t a very productive month for the Wine and Gold, but if there was one revelation during the month, it came on Friday the 13th – when Iman Shumpert was inserted into the starting lineup.
Already known as one of the toughest perimeter defenders in the league, Shump had been outstanding on the offensive end all year – recording career-high shooting marks from the floor, the stripe and beyond the arc.
He’s only gotten better since that January 13 start against Sacramento and has notched double-figures in seven of his last nine games, averaging 12.8 points, 3.0 boards and 1.7 steals while shooting 49 percent from the floor and 51 percent from long-range over that span. He also notched a career-high 23 points against the T-Wolves in the Wine and Gold’s 125-99 win in Minnesota last January.
Shump will have his hands full on Wednesday night, taking on another of Minnesota’s rising stars – Zach LaVine. The former Slam Dunk champ has improved exponentially in each of his three seasons, averaging 19.1 points this season.
A hip injury midway through January slowed him down a little, but he’s been picking up steam of late – averaging 18.0 points per over his last three outings heading into tonight’s matchup.
Key: Prodigal Son
As long as they’re both in the league, Kevin Love and Andrew Wiggins will be associated with one another.
After being selected with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2014 Draft, Wiggins barely got past Summer League with the Wine and Gold before being dealt to Minnesota in exchange for Love. Both franchises made out very well in the deal.
Love was instrumental in the Cavaliers’ winning last year’s NBA Championship and he’s having his best season in Cleveland this year – earning All-Star honors for the fourth time in his career after hitting the halfway mark as the only player in the Eastern Conference to average at least 20.0 points and 10.0 boards.
Unfortunately, he’ll be sidelined for tonight’s head-to-head matchup after suffering lower back spasms on Sunday afternoon. An MRI revealed no structural damage, but the Cavaliers will still be cautious with their star forward.
Wiggins has emerged as one of the league’s bright young talents – averaging 22.1 ppg so far this season. During the T-Wolves’ recent heater – winning five of six – Wiggins has been very good, scoring at least 20 points in all six contests, averaging 25.5 points per over that span.
And the former Kansas standout loves playing against the squad that drafted him. Only Michael Jordan (30.6) has a higher scoring average than Wiggins’ 28.8 ppg mark against the Cavaliers.