Mitchell HansenWeb Editorial AssociateTwitter
7 p.m., Target Center Where to Watch: Fox Sports North Where to Listen: 830 WCCO
The Minnesota Timberwolves host the Dallas Mavericks in the second game of a four-game homestand at 7 p.m. Monday night at Target Center.
The Wolves and Mavericks both enter the game a record of 11-26 overall.
Coming Off Of…
Minnesota is coming off of a 94-92 loss to the Utah Jazz on Saturday in Minneapolis.
Zach LaVine led the Wolves with 24 points, nine rebounds and four assists. Karl-Anthony Towns had 18 points and 15 rebounds, Andrew Wiggins had 16 points, five rebounds and four assists, Ricky Rubio had 12 points and seven assists and Gorgui Dieng had 11 points, eight rebounds and four assists in the game.
Dallas is coming off of a 97-82 loss to the Atlanta Hawks on Saturday in Dallas.
Harrison Barnes had 21 points to lead the Mavericks. Devin Harris and Dirk Nowitzki each finished with 11 points and Wesley Matthews added nine points.
Last Matchup
The Mavericks swept the Wolves 4-0 in the season series last season. The last matchup game on April 3 in Minneapolis, which resulted in Dallas winning 88-78.
In that game, Wiggins had 30 points and four rebounds, Towns had a near triple-double of 11 points, 21 rebounds and nine assists, LaVine had 11 points and three rebounds, Rubio had nine points and five assists and Dieng added eight points and three rebounds for Minnesota.
J.J. Barea had 21 points and six assists to lead Dallas. Matthews had 19 points, Nowitzki had 13 points and four rebounds and Harris had 16 points off the bench.
Monday’s game is the first of three games between the two teams this season. The next game will come on Jan. 15 in Dallas.
Key Matchup: Andrew Wiggins vs. Harrison Barnes
One of the key matchups Monday night will come between Minnesota’s Andrew Wiggins and Dallas’ Harrison Barnes, two players who have improved from a season ago.
Wiggins, in his third year in the NBA, is averaging a team-best 22.1 points, 4.2 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game this season, all of which are improvements from last year. His largest statistical increase came in points per game, going from 20.7 points in last season to 22.1 this year.
Barnes, in his fifth NBA season and the first with Dallas, is averaging a team-best 20.6 points, 5.5 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game for the Mavericks. He is up to 20.6 points per game compared to 11.7 points per game a season ago.
Injuries
Dallas: No injuries to report.
Minnesota: Nikola Pekovic (ankle) is out.
Projected Starters
Dallas: PG – Williams, SG – Matthews, SF – Barnes, PF – Nowitzki, C – Bogut
Minnesota: PG – Rubio, SG – LaVine, SF – Wiggins, PF – Dieng, C – Towns