2016-17 Preseason

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Mitchell HansenWeb Editorial AssociateTwitter

6:30 p.m., Philips Arena  Where to Watch: Fox Sports North Where to Listen: 830 WCCO 

The Minnesota Timberwolves hit the road on a one-game road trip to take on the Atlanta Hawks in Atlanta on Wednesday night.

The Wolves enter the game at 8-19 overall and are sitting in 13th place in the Western Conference. The Hawks come in at 14-14 on the year and are in seventh place in the Eastern Conference.

Minnesota is coming off of a 115-108 win over the Phoenix Suns on Monday night in Minneapolis. 

Karl-Anthony Towns had 28 points and 15 rebounds, Andrew Wiggins had 26 points and four rebounds, Zach LaVine had 23 points and four rebounds, Gorgui Dieng had 10 points and nine rebounds, Ricky Rubio had eight points and 12 assists and Shabazz Muhammad and Kris Dunn each added eight points off the bench.

Atlanta is coming off of a 110-108 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Monday in Oklahoma City.

Dennis Schroder had 31 points, eight assists and five rebounds, Paul Millsap had 30 points and 11 rebounds, Thabo Sefolosha had 15 points and six rebounds and Kent Bazemore had 12 points, six assist and five rebounds for Atlanta.

Minnesota held a 2-0 series advantage over Atlanta last season.

The last matchup came on Nov. 25 in Minneapolis when the Wolves beat the Hawks 99-95.

In that game, LaVine led Minnesota with 18 points, six assists and five rebounds off the bench. Wiggins had 15 points and four rebounds, Damjan Rudez had 13 points and Kevin Martin added 11 points. For Atlanta, Millsap and Jeff Teague had 22 points each. Al Horford had 12 points and 12 rebounds, Kyle Korver had 11 points and nine rebounds and Sefolosha had 10 points and six rebounds.

Wednesday’s game is the first of two games between the two teams this season. The second matchup will come on Dec. 26 when the Hawks come to Minneapolis.   

Key Matchup: Ricky Rubio vs. Dennis Schroder 

A key matchup during Wednesday night’s game will come at the point guard position between Ricky Rubio and Dennis Schroder.

Rubio is coming off of playing arguably his best basketball of the season for the Wolves in Monday night’s win, as he tallied eight points and tied his season-high with 12 assists. Along with his unique floor vision is his ability to defend on the other side of the ball. That defense will get put to the test against Schroder on Wednesday.

Schroder is having a career-best year for the Hawks in his first full season as the team’s starting point guard. He has improved in nearly every category, averaging 17.1 points, 6.3 assists and 3.1 rebounds in 28 games.

Atlanta: Tiago Splitter (hamstring) is out. Dwight Howard (back) and DeAndre Bembry (personal matter) are questionable.

Minnesota: Nikola Pekovic (ankle) is out. 

Atlanta: PG – Schroder, SG – Bazemore, SF – Korver, PF – Sefolosha, C – Millsap

Minnesota: PG – Rubio, SG – LaVine, SF – Wiggins, PF – Dieng, C – Towns

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Scouting Report | Wolves at Hawks

With one final test standing in the way of them and the start of the regular season, the Wolves concluded preseason play on a strong note.

Minnesota breezed past Charlotte 109-74 in the preseason finale Friday night at the Target Center.

“I want us to continue to improve. We are still striving to be a 48-minute team and I think we are doing better in that area,” Wolves coach Tom Thibodeau said. “We have to know how to play tough with a lead and I thought we were better in that area tonight.” 

The Wolves, who complete the preseason with a record of 5-2, were led by Shabazz Muhammad with 17 points off the bench. Karl-Anthony Towns had 15 points and nine rebounds, Zach LaVine had 15 points and five rebounds, Brandon Rush and Nemanja Bjelica had 14 points each, while Ricky Rubio added 10 points, four rebounds and six assists for Minnesota.   

“When the ball is moving quickly, we’ll get great shots. I think Ricky and Kris (Dunn) did a great job of pushing the ball and I thought they put good pressure on the ball. When we get it to the open floor, I think we get some easy scoring opportunities,” Thibodeau said. “I thought Shabazz gave us some good minutes in his first game back (from injury) and Brandon (Rush) was terrific.”

Charlotte was led by Marco Belinelli's 10 points and Kemba Walker's eight points. Jeremy Lamb had eight points and nine rebounds, while Mike Tobey had eight points and six rebounds off the bench.  

Much like Wednesday’s win over Memphis, the Wolves got off to a stellar start, outscoring 92-56 in the first three quarters.

Minnesota out-rebounded Charlotte 56-37 in the game and forced the Hornets into 17 turnovers.

The Wolves finish preseason play with a record of 5-2. The Hornets conclude with a record of 3-4.

With 7:30 left in the first quarter, Towns cleaned up a missed jumpshot from Zach LaVine with a putback dunk to tie the game up at 11-11. 

The Wolves had a very balanced performance Friday night, by I'm going to go with Shabazz Muhammad as Player of the Game. Muhammad, who sat out of Wednesday’s game due to hip tightness, finished with 17 points in 18 minutes off the bench and shot 6-of-10 from the field.

The Wolves will play the Memphis Grizzlies at 7 p.m. Wednesday night to kick off the regular season. Minnesota beat Memphis 101-94 on Oct. 19 in preseason play at the Target Center. 

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Wolves Blowout Hornets In Preseason Finale

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Preseason Gallery | Wolves vs. Hornets

The Wolves take on the Charlotte Hornets in the preseason finale Friday night at the Target Center.

Minnesota enters the game at 4-2 with its win over Memphis on Wednesday in Minneapolis. Charlotte enters at 3-3, playing the second game of a back-to-back after beating Miami on Thursday.

The Wolves will kick off their season Wednesday night in Memphis, while the Hornets begin their season on Wednesday in Milwaukee.

The Wolves are coming off of a 101-94 win over the Memphis Grizzlies on Wednesday.

Karl-Anthony Towns had 31 points and nine rebounds to lead the way for Minnesota. Gorgui Dieng had 19 points and 11 rebounds, Zach LaVine had 18 points and Nemanja Bjelica added eight points.

The Hornets are coming off of a 96-88 win over the Miami Heat on Thursday night.

Kemba Walker had 17 points and six assists, Frank Kaminsky had 16 points and six rebounds and Nicolas Batum had 14 points and five rebounds for Charlotte.

The Wolves and Hornets faced off once this preseason. Charlotte came away with the 98-86 win on Oct. 10.

In that game, Kaminsky had 17 points, Jeremy Lamb had 16 points, Walker had 15 points and six assists, and Batum had 13 points, six rebounds and five assists to lead the Hornets. Zach LaVine had 30 points, Shabazz Muhammad had 12 points and five rebounds and Andrew Wiggins and Nemanja Bjelica each added nine points for the Wolves.

Charlotte won the season series 2-0 last season.

Key Matchup: Gorgui Dieng vs. Frank Kaminsky

Dieng and Kaminsky are each coming off of strong games entering Friday’s matchup.

Dieng finished with 19 points and 11 rebounds Wednesday night against Memphis, while Kaminsky tallied 16 points and six rebounds Thursday against Miami.

Dieng is averaging 10 points and 6.2 rebounds in five games of preseason play. Kaminsky, Charlotte’s leading scorer this preseason, is averaging 13.3 points, 6.3 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game in six games this preseason.

The Wolves did a nice job of keeping Memphis Grizzlies big man Marc Gasol in check Wednesday night, allowing the Spaniard to score six points on 2-of-10 shooting. Let’s see if they have a similar impact on Kaminsky’s performance Friday night.

Charlotte: Batum (rest), Spencer Hawes (rest), Brian Roberts (hamstring) and Marvin Williams (finger) are out.

Minnesota: Nikola Pekovic (ankle) is out.

Charlotte: PG – Walker, SG – Lamb, SF – Kidd-Gilchrist, PF – Kaminsky, C – Hibbert

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Preseason Scouting | Wolves vs. Hornets

After missing Wednesday’s game against the Memphis Grizzlies with hip tightness, Wolves wing Shabazz Muhammad is hoping he can play on Friday night against the Charlotte Hornets.

“I’m good,” Muhammad said after Friday’s shootaround. “ . . . Just sitting out for precautionary reasons. It feels really good, though.”

Muhammad took part in Thursday’s practice in a limited role.

We’ll know more about his availability after head coach Tom Thibodeau addresses the media pregame.

Point guard John Lucas III played with Thibodeau in Chicago from 2010 to 2012.

Lucas said that while Thibodeau is all business when it comes to games, he’s noticed a change in the coach.

“He jokes around a little bit more,” Lucas said. “He’s having a lot more fun with it.”

The Wolves tipoff against the Hornets tonight at 7 p.m. It will be the final preseason game for the Wolves. The game will air on Fox Sports North, NBA TV and WCCO 830 AM.

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Shootaround Access | Muhammad Hoping To Play

The Wolves beat the Grizzlies 101-94 last night (Wednesday) at the Target Center.

I know, it’s only a preseason game and it at this point, you really, really want regular-season NBA basketball.

But in last night’s win, there were plenty of things to get excited about and things to talk about with your coworker Ron at the water cooler today.

Here are three quick takeaways from the game:

Karl-Anthony Towns remains really, really good at basketball

General managers across the NBA recently named KAT the player they’d most like to start a team around.

For those GMs who didn’t vote for him (shame on you), Towns gave them a little reminder of just how good he is last night.

In just 24 minutes, he finished with 31 points, nine rebounds, two assists and a block. He shot an efficient 7-for-10 from the field and a perfect 17-for-17 from the free-throw line.

We won’t be hearing ‘Hack a KAT’ during Towns’s career. I tweeted it last night, but if you play fantasy basketball, ya’ll need to get Towns on your squad.

The Wolves outscored the Grizzlies 91-57 in the first three quarters.

The Grizzlies outscored the Wolves 37-10 in the fourth quarter, actually making it a game. In fairness, the Wolves had players in the game who haven’t gotten much time this preseason, but still, head coach Tom Thibodeau doesn’t see that as an excuse.

As Thibs said after the game, “in this league, no leads are safe.” Minnesota’s lead almost wasn’t.

Ricky Rubio continues to be a wizard with the ball.

In the second quarter, Rubio and Towns ran the floor together and after waiting for Zach LaVine to clear the lane, Rubio hit a cutting Towns for the dunk.

The Wolves play on Friday against the Hornets tomorrow close out preseason at the Target Center. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. The game will air on Fox Sports North, NBA TV and WCCO 830 AM.

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About Last Night | Karl-Anthony Towns Is Still Really Good At Basketball

The first home preseason game of the year resulted in a win for the Wolves in front of their home crowd.

Minnesota took down Memphis 101-94 on Wednesday night at the Target Center, improving to 4-2 this preseason.  

Carrying a 28-19 lead after the first quarter, the Wolves stepped on the gas, outscoring Memphis 63-38 in the next two quarters.

Minnesota, which held a 62-44 lead at halftime, stretched its lead to a game-high 40 points midway through the third quarter. The Grizzlies climbed back into the game in the fourth quarter, outscoring the Wolves 37-10 to end the game.

“One thing we’ve been talking about is striving to be a 48-minute team and obviously we didn’t do that. We did a lot of great things, but we didn’t close out the game,” Wolves coach Tom Thibodeau said. “We have a lot of work to do, but I don’t want to take away from the good things that were done.”

The starters led the way for the Wolves, each carrying a +/- of at least +33. Karl-Anthony Towns had a team-best 31 points and nine rebounds, Gorgui Dieng added 19 points and 11 rebounds, and Zach LaVine had 18 points. Nemanja Bjelica added eight points off the bench for Minnesota.

“I like the readiness of the team, and that includes everybody,” Thibodeau said. “I liked their concentration during shoot around this morning, before the game and during that early lead. I just want us to keep getting better every day.”

Defensively, the Wolves held the Grizzlies to 39 percent shooting from the field and forced Memphis into 21 turnovers.

“On defense, I think we are playing much, much better. That’s the way you win games,” Wolves point guard Ricky Rubio said. “We are trying to learn the defense and play as a team together. It’s something we really buy in to and we are doing a pretty good job so far, but we want to improve every day.”

Wayne Selden had 17 points and five rebounds to lead Memphis. Zach Randolph had 13 points and nine rebounds off the bench, Troy Williams had 10 points and six rebounds, Mike Conley had nine points, and Marc Gasol added six points and four rebounds for the Grizzlies.

“I haven’t spent many years in this league, but this is the first time I have felt this way in the preseason,” Dieng said. “Coach always talks about closing the gap and that’s what we are trying to do. We are trying to get better every day.”

During Minnesota’s run in the second quarter, Rubio connected with Towns on a no-look pass that led to a dunk with 3:16 left in the quarter and put the Wolves up 53-36.

I think we all can agree, Towns was the Player of the Game on Wednesday night. Along with his team-best 31 points and nine rebounds, Towns had two assists and finished 17-for-17 from the line in the game.

Also, Towns played well against Gasol defensively, holding the Spaniard to six points and 2-for-10 shooting from the field.   

The Wolves will take on the Charlotte Hornets in the preseason finale at 7 p.m. Friday at the Target Center. It will be the second matchup between Minnesota and Charlotte this preseason. 

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Starters, led by Towns, power Wolves past Grizzlies

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Preseason Gallery | Wolves vs. Grizzlies

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2016‑17 Preseason