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Key: One for the Road
After a January in which they finished under .500, the Cavaliers have been back in business heading towards the Break – going 5-1 in February with two games remaining before the big weekend in the Big Easy.
On Tuesday night, it’s their final road game of the first half, traveling to Minnesota to wrap up the season series – taking on a T-Wolves team they beat by 28 points to get back on track this month.
On Saturday night, the Wine and Gold returned home after a successful 3-1 road trip and used an 18-0 run to start the second half, blowing past the Nuggets at The Q and improving to a Conference-best 23-5 mark at home.
The Timberwolves have gone in the opposite direction after that February 1 loss in Cleveland – dropping five of six before blowing out the Bulls, 117-89, on Sunday night.
The Cavaliers still have the best mark in the East, but they head into the Break with both Boston and Washington – each 9-1 in their last 10 outings – closing in quickly and looking to make their move in the second half.
Key: Feeling the Love
The World Champs have not been immune to the injury bug this season – and as they head to the venue where Kevin Love made his mark, they’ll be without their All-Star forward.
On Tuesday morning in New York, Love underwent arthroscopic surgery to remove a loose body from his left knee and he’ll be sidelined for about the next six weeks.
Love, who spent his first six seasons in Minnesota, was having his best season as a Cavalier – earning his fourth career All-Star nod as the only player in the Eastern Conference averaging at least 20 points and 10 boards. And he’d been on a heater heading into his return – notching a double-double in eight of his previous 10 games before the injury.
At least for tonight – and possibly the foreseeable future – Channing Frye will get the start. Frye’s only started three games this season for Cleveland, but he’s been very good in the last two – averaging 16.5 points and 4.5 boards, shooting 54 percent from the floor.
Frye started against Minnesota the last time these clubs met on Feb. 1 – finishing with 18 points on 7-for-13 shooting, adding a pair of blocks in the blowout win.
Key: Moving Forwards
Andrew Wiggins just about finished his Summer League stint with the Wine and Gold before being shipped to Minnesota in exchange for Kevin Love during the 2014 offseason – and both teams came out of the deal happy.
Aside from his recent injury, Love has returned to All-Star form after helping lead Cleveland to its first professional sports title in over half-a-decade.
Wiggins has done nothing but improve steadily every year with the T-Wolves and comes into tonight’s contest red-hot – having scored at least 20 points in 13 straight games, the longest franchise streak since Kevin Love did so back in 2014. The former Kansas standout is averaging 29.0 points per on 58 percent shooting over his last three games and has always enjoyed going up against the team that traded him –averaging 26.0 points on 56 percent shooting in five games against the Cavaliers.
But while his numbers have been great, the Wine and Gold have taken all five contests – thanks to a small forward on the other side named LeBron James – the Eastern Conference’s reigning Player of the Week.
The King is coming off a 27-point, 12-assist performance in Saturday’s win over Denver – his 19th game this year with double-digit helpers, most in a single season since he did so 24 times back in 2009-10.
Key: Year of the KAT
It’s hard to argue against any of the big men representing the Western Conference on Sunday night, but it does show that position’s depth if Karl-Anthony Towns is unable to crack the roster.
In his second season in Minnesota, the Big KAT has been even better than his Rookie of the Year campaign in 2015-16 – leading the Timberwolves in scoring, rebounding and blocked shots. Over his last 13 games, Towns has topped the 30-point plateau six times and has grabbed double-digit boards in all but three of those contests.
In three career meetings with Cleveland, the former No. 1 overall pick has doubled-up in two of them – including a 26-point, 12-rebound effort in Minnesota’s recent loss at The Q on Feb. 1.
On Tuesday night, Towns will face off against Tristan Thompson – who’s coming off a double-double of his own – finishing with 13 points and 13 boards in Saturday’s win over Denver.
Over his last six games, Cleveland’s iron man is averaging 13.5 points and 9.8 boards, shooting nearly 67 percent from the floor over that stretch.
Key: Point of Contention
In less than a week, Kyrie Irving will return to the All-Star venue where he took MVP honors back in 2014 (and where LeBron did so in 2008).
Irving has been consistently excellent all season – notching at least 20 points in 38 of his 47 outings this year, including each of his last four games.
After taking the night off to rest a sore quad in New York two Saturdays ago, Kyrie has averaged 26.8 points on 47 percent shooting over that four game stretch. And even in the one poor shooting game over span – going 8-for-24 on Monday night in Washington – Uncle Drew still rallied to notch 11 points in the overtime period of Cleveland’s thrilling road victory.
The T-Wolves selected guard Kris Dunn with the 5th overall pick in this past Draft, but he’s been unable to unseat the incumbent – Ricky Rubio – Minnesota’s top assist man this season.
In seven meetings against the Wine and Gold, Rubio has handed out double-digit helpers in four of them – including a 14-point, 13-assist effort in his last head-to-head matchup. In that contest, however, Kyrie did him one better – finishing with 14 points and 14 assists with Cleveland winning by four TDs.