Thursday night’s matchup with the Lakers is more than just another game—it’s a golden opportunity. If the Wolves win, they would move into a tie with the Lakers in the loss column and earn what could be a very important tiebreaker.
The Wolves already have a 2-1 series advantage going into their last meeting of the season with Los Angeles. They beat the LeBron James led squad at Target Center early in the season before absolutely hammering the Lakers sans LeBron earlier in the month.
James has yet to take contact in practice after injuring his groin on Christmas day, so he is extremely unlikely to return—the Wolves should be licking their chops knowing what they can do to that squad after demolishing them 108-86 on Jan. 6. However, the Lakers will get a modicum of relief from the likely return of guard Rajon Rondo. Los Angeles has been floundering in the last few weeks and Rondo’s return could be the steadying presence they need to get back on track—but not if the Wolves have anything to say about it.
Rondo or no Rondo, the Lakers will still have to figure out a way to handle Karl-Anthony Towns. The Wolves center crushed both Tyson Chandler and JaVale McGee the last time these two teams met, singlehandedly out-scoring and out-rebounding the combination of McGee and Chandler. Towns finished that contest with 28 points, 18 rebounds and four blocks. Ivica Zubac is an interesting matchup for Towns—Zubac has been playing the best basketball of his career lately and certainly looks like a future starter—but the two players are simply in different points in their development. Towns is a growing superstar while Zubac is still finding his footing in the league. While the Lakers have enough size to play Towns tough, they don’t have anyone who will really be able to make him work on the defensive end. It could be a long night for the Lakers if Towns gets going.
Additionally, despite getting a point guard back from injury the Lakers are desperately thin at the position. Lonzo Ball is still nursing a sprained ankle and the Lakers’ only other true primary ballhandler is LeBron. In a huge loss to the Warriors on Monday, the Lakers didn’t start a point guard, instead opting to have Brandon Ingram bring the ball up. That worked out well, with Ingram finishing with 17 points, but it’s probably not a long-term answer. It will be interesting to see who the Lakers choose to play the backup point guard if Rondo does indeed return.
Thursday’s matchup has the added narrative element of two teams both trying to survive the loss of some key pieces of their roster. The Wolves are doing better than the Lakers—they are actually climbing the standings despite being down two starters (Jeff Teague and Robert Covington) and an important backup (Tyus Jones). However, they need to keep their foot on the gas. If Minnesota can keep themselves in contention or even close the gap between them and the West’s No. 8 seed, they could really go on a run once they get a boost from Teague, Jones and Covington’s eventual returns.
Managing the minutes of his players has become an early challenge for Interim Head Coach Ryan Saunders. Derrick Rose will likely be running the point in L.A., but with Rose rehabbing a recent ankle injury and the Wolves on a back-to-back (they play the Jazz on Friday), look for Saunders to be careful with how he uses Rose. That could mean a lot of minutes for Jerryd Bayless and Josh Okogie, and more minutes at the guard spot for Wiggins (therefore more Anthony Tolliver at the three).
While the ideal is obviously to always be at full strength, the Wolves may actually find themselves strengthened by the absences of several key players. Covington and Teague leave big shoes to fill, and Okogie, Bayless and other Wolves reserves have stepped up admirably. Okogie in particular may end up being the primary beneficiary of a thin backcourt—he’s gotten valuable game time to hone his craft and he’s playing the best basketball of his young career.
Thursday’s game is not a “must-win” but it’s pretty close. The Wolves have an opportunity here and they could be kicking themselves down the line if they let it go to waste. Road wins against Western Conference opponents have been hard to come by for any team this season, stacking a few together would be a real accomplishment—that starts on Thursday.
For more on the matchup, including where to watch and listen to the game, check out our scouting report.