One of the most respected analysts in the game, Steve "Snapper" Jones successfully made the transition from playing the game to commenting on it. From 1967-75, Jones had a prolific career in the ABA, topping the 20-point per game mark twice and once scoring 51 in a game, and moved on to spend a season with the NBA's Portland Trail Blazers in 1975-76.

Directly after his retirement, Jones went into broadcasting, and his rapport with the eccentric Bill Walton made that duo popular with television audiences during their NBC days. This season on ABC, Jones was reunited with his former partner Walton. The pair will call the Sixers-Timberwolves matchup Sunday on ABC (1 p.m ET). NBA.com sat down to speak with Jones about the game and more:

Garnett will try to defend his house Sunday versus the Sixers. David Sherman/NBAE/Getty Images

What are the matchups to watch in Sunday's contest?

Jones: Philadelphia's been so up and down. It's very difficult to really understand why they struggle. They've got a very dangerous offensive group but they seem to struggle in getting the other people involved. The biggest concern for Minnesota is Allen Iverson No. 1, and who will be able to slow him down and make him have a difficult day. And Chris Webber No. 2, and how they will deal with the fact that he is a passing and scoring threat. That will probably go in the direction of Kevin Garnett, who would guard him.

Webber probably will not defend Garnett, simply because of the mobility of Garnett and the immobility of Chris Webber. Webber gets in a lot of fouls when he has to guard the primary offensive player on the other team.

Then the other matchup is Wally Szczerbiak and Andre Iguodala. If Philadelpia can control either one of them -- Garnett or Szczerbiak -- then Philadelphia wins the game easily. Because Minnesota is searching for a third option – they don't consistently have one. One night it's Troy Hudson, one night it might be Trenton Hassell. They're struggling to score points.

What are the keys to the game for both teams?

Jones: It would be Philadelphia trying to accelerate the pace of the game, making it quicker to create transition scoring opportunities. If you're Minnesota you want to try to slow things down and grind it out, making it a halfcourt game.

Are there any X-factors on either squad?

Jones: The X-factor for Minnesota will be the player who is the third option. They need to get three players who score 18 and above. It's not a specific person for Minnesota, but I'd say the person the X-factor is most likely to be would be Troy Hudson. He may be caught up trying to deal with Allen Iverson as well, and that's a tough matchup because it takes a lot of starch out of him.

For most of his career, Garnett has had to shoulder the load in Minnesota. What are you impressions on that situation?

Jones: Kevin Garnett is a unique individual in the sense that he knows how good he is, what he means to the organization, and he wants to bring that team a championship, and that's where is focus is all of the time.

He also understands, 'My team may not be good enough to win a championship, but I'm not asking out.' Which can be rare these days when the situation gets tough and you decide 'I want to go to the other side where winning is easier' – you ask out.

But Garnett's not doing that. He's similar in the sense of Stockton and Malone, when they were stuck in Utah, having great season after great season. He brings it every single night night. To be able to play at the level that he plays with the passion and the drive that he plays with is very unique and underappreciated.

Minnesota, in reality, needs to put better pieces around him if in fact Garnett can have a realistic shot at winning a championship.

Chris Webber recently claimed Maurice Cheeks' system isn't much better for him than Jim O'Brien's was. Do you believe Iverson and Webber have gelled together in Philadelphia?

Jones: This thing of harmony – it's a fragile thing. When Webber plays well, the system is fine.When he does't play well, it's not fine.

I think it's a good combination. I think Webber and Iverson work well together. The problem is, if you're going to say that there's going to be an adjustment, all of the adjustments have to be made by Chris Webber. He's not the same player that he once was, and he can't do a lot of the things offensively that he wants to do.

But he's still a terrific passer, and they utilize his passing skills, it's just sometimes he breaks down at the defensive end. I think Cheeks understands he has to have Webber playing at the highest level and Chris has to have the attitude of 'I can deal with being the second banana.'

Some days he can, some days he can't.

What's it like being reunited with your former partner Bill Walton this season?

Jones: Everyone asks that question as if things have changed. Bill is always on Mars. So you have to have that approach that you have to bring him back to Earth. So that hasn't changed. My approach to Bill is always to enjoy the things that he says, to try to make some sense out of the things he says, and to have fun at the games.

Bill's a tremendously passionate guy about the game of basketball -- and the winning of basketball. Where he gets a little lost sometimes is the other side of winning is losing, and someone's going to lose the game. Fortunately for his career, he was on the winning side, so he doesn't understand the emotion that goes along with losing as much as he does that of winning.

But he's always fun to work with. He's a unique individual with a different perspective, but he's always had that.