Julian AndrewsWeb Editorial AssociateTwitter
The Wolves got no help from the rest of the league last night, but still sit in seventh in the West.
The team travels to New York today to face the Knicks tomorrow, and while they’ll be focused on getting ready to win at Madison Square Garden tomorrow night, they’ll certainly be keeping an eye on the scoreboard.
There are two games in particular Minnesota should be paying attention to:
Lakers at Pelicans, 7 p.m., League Pass
Most teams in the league have reason to complain about their schedule, but the Pelicans’ week is especially brutal.
When they take on the Lakers, New Orleans will be playing their third game in as many nights. They also had games on Saturday and Sunday, and are scheduled for another one this Saturday.
A back-to-back, one day off, three games in a row, one day off then another game. That’s crazy!
The problem for the Wolves is that the Pelicans have not only been playing a lot of games, they’ve been winning. New Orleans has beat the Celtics, the Mavericks, and the Pacers, and is looking for their fourth in a row against the Lakers.
Los Angeles, losers of three in a row, will look to take advantage of the Pelicans’ tired legs and claim the victory. Absent their leading scorer in Brandon Ingram, the Lakers will lean on a resurgent Julius Randle to lead the team against the incredible Anthony Davis.
They’ll have their hands full. Davis has absolutely demolished the Lakers this year. In his two games against Los Angeles, he is averaging 34.5 points, 16 rebounds, 2.5 blocks and three steals. The Lakers’ best bet might be to shut down everyone around him instead of devoting all their energy to containing him.
New Orleans is sitting in fifth in the West, one game ahead of the Timberwolves. Hopefully the Lakers can figure out a way to contain Davis and steal a win.
Jazz at Mavericks, 7:30 p.m., League Pass
Nobody expected the Hawks to be doing the Wolves any favors, but Atlanta’s surprising win over the Jazz on Tuesday stopped Utah’s hot streak and left them in eighth place in the West—half a game behind Minnesota.
Atlanta may also have provided a blueprint for any team looking for a way to beat Utah. Make the Jazz try to beat you on the offensive end.
Utah is an incredible defensive team, but its offense leaves something to be desired. Despite Dennis Schroder’s 41 points, the Hawks only put up 99, but they held Utah to 95. Essentially, they went into Utah’s house and beat them at their own game.
It was a slugfest, and not much fun to watch, but it worked.
Tonight, the Mavericks will try to replicate what the Hawks did to the Jazz.
The Mavericks actually have a significantly better defense than Atlanta, and Yogi Ferrell has helped out the Wolves before, but the Jazz will be motivated after their loss. Utah is only up 1.5 games on the Nuggets, so they have a lot more than pride to play for.
Dallas has had a bad season, no question about it, but Dirk Nowitzki has turned in some vintage performances as well. Maybe tonight the NBA’s sixth all-time scoring leader will bust out some of his old tricks.
Wolves fans should be rooting for the Mavs to knock the Jazz down another peg.