Timberwolves vs. Rockets | 9:00PM, Mexico City Arena
Where To Watch: ESPN
Where to Listen 830 WCCO
Let’s try this again.
Last season, the Wolves were supposed to play the Spurs in Mexico City. Unfortunately, there were some complications with some equipment in the arena which made it unsafe for anyone in the arena. Instead, the game was played at the Target Center later in the season (technically making it a true home game for the Wolves, so that was kind of a positive for Minnesota fans).
This game is also scheduled to be play in Mexico City with the Wolves being the home team. Hopefully for the people of Mexico City, this game will indeed be played.
The NBA game is growing, so going across the boarder is almost a no-brainer. The Wolves have a good representation of players from outside of the USA such as Gorgui Dieng, Nikola Pekovic, Ronny Turiaf, Ricky Rubio, Andrew Wiggins and Anthony Bennett.
Unfortunately, the Wolves will be without Rubio who is out indefinitely after spraining his left ankle during Friday’s loss to the Orlando Magic. Head coach Flip Saunders called Rubio the heart and soul of the team during Tuesday’s media availability. It will be interesting to see if Saunders starts rookie Zach LaVine for the second consecutive game or veteran Mo Williams.
Minnesota heads into this game with a 2-4 record, while the Rockets sit at 6-1 (tied for the best record in the West). The game airs at 9 p.m. on ESPN and 830 WCCO.
LAST MEETING
These two teams faced off four times last season and Minnesota was able to win just one game, although, the win was pretty memorable.
The Wolves won 112-110 on April 11 at the Target Center thanks to a career-high 51 points (!!!) from Corey Brewer. Brewer, not exactly a player who would cross your mind to join the 50-point club, finished 19-of-30 from the field, 11-of-15 from the free-throw line and 2-of-6 from deep. He also had a game-high six steals.
Forward Dante Cunningham (now a free agent) added 20 points and 13 rebounds in 42 minutes. Rubio did a little bit of everything, finishing with 16 points, 10 assists, five rebounds a steal.
Dieng finished with 16 points and a game-high 20 rebounds - the second time he had 20 boards against Houston last season.
He also had the game-winning shot. It might not have looked pretty, but it gave the Wolves 40 wins in a season for the first time since the 2004-05 campaign.
Minnesota was shorthanded, playing without Kevin Love (now with Cavaliers), Kevin Martin and Pekovic.
THIS WEEK’S RESULTS
The Wolves are coming off of a 102-92 loss to the Miami Heat on Saturday, despite outscoring Miami 51-49 in the second half.
Minnesota had five players hit double digits, led by Pekovic. Pekovic finished with 19 points and a game-high 11 rebounds. He shot an impressive 6-of-10 from the field and 7-of-7 from the free-throw line. Thaddeus Young added 16 points, while Shabazz Muhammad led the second unit with 13 points in just 11 minutes of play. Dieng also had a strong night off the bench, finishing with 12 points and six rebounds. Wiggins scored 10 points. In his first career NBA start (filling in for the injured Rubio), LaVine finished with five points, six rebounds, four assists and a steal. He played 26 minutes. The Wolves shot just 40.2 percent from the field compared to Miami’s mark of 52.6 percent.
Houston also had a loss on Saturday, falling 98-87 at home against the Golden State Warriors.
It’s worth noting that the Rockets were without Patrick Beverley, Terrence Jones and Dwight Howard.
Kevin McHale’s club was led by James Harden, who finished with 22 points, seven assists and seven rebounds. Harden wasn’t all that efficient, though, shooting just 8-of-24 from the field and 1-of-11 from the three-point line. Isaiah Canaan (filling in for Beverley) added 21 points. Danatas Motiejunas led the second unit with 16 points and eight rebounds, while veteran Jason Terry pitched in with 11.
KEY MATCHUP: ANDREW WIGGINS VS. JAMES HARDEN[[{"fid":"25453","view_mode":"default","fields":{"format":"default","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":""},"type":"media","attributes":{"style":"float: right;","class":"media-element file-default"}}]]
Harden is a shooting guard, while Wiggins has been playing small forward most of the season, but the positions are really interchangeable in Minnesota's schemes. Saunders will have the decision to match up Wiggins or Martin (limited defensively) against Harden.
So far this season, Harden’s been pretty fantastic. Harden is averaging 25.4 points per game (178 points, first in league), 7.1 assists, 6.7 rebound and 1.4 steals per game. Despite all of those stats, Harden is shooting just 39.5 percent from the field and 31.9 percent from the three—point line. Both are career lows. Most of his points are from the free-throw line. He’s made an NBA-leading 69 free throws this season.
In three games against Minnesota last season, Harden averaged 26.7 points and 7.3 assists per game.
Wiggins has had an up-and-down six games to open his rookie season. He’s averaging 9.2 points, 3.2 rebounds and 1.2 steals per game while shooting 43.1 percent from the field and 40 percent from the three-point line. His struggles are at the free-throw line. He’s shot just 9-of-16 from the charity stripe this season. He’s coming off of a 10 point performance against the Miami Heat.
Wolves fans hope Wiggins can keep the All-Star in check.
TSR INJURY REPORT
Rockets: Francisco Garcia (illness), guard Patrick Beverley (hamstring) and Terrence Jones (leg) are questionable.
Wolves: Anthony Bennett (soreness in right knee) is questionable. Ricky Rubio (sprained left ankle) is not with the team for tonight’s game.
PROJECTED STARTERS
Rockets: PG – Canaan, SG - Harden, SF - Ariza - PF - Papanikolaou, C - Howard
Wolves: PG – LaVine, SG – Martin, SF Wiggins, PF – Young, C - Pekovic