The Game
The final stretch is here for the Wolves, and seven of their final nine games come at home.
It starts on Tuesday night against a surging Clippers team at Target Center.
The Wolves go into the game with a 33-40 record, 10th in the Western Conference. Minnesota is coming off a 112-99 road win over the Grizzlies on Saturday.
The Clippers are in the middle of a playoff-positioning push. LA is 44-30 overall, fifth in the West, just three games back from third place and one game up from the eighth seed. Things are tight. LA has won nine of its last 10 games, most recently on Sunday afternoon in New York against the Knicks.
This is the third and final matchup between the two teams this season. The series is tied at 1-1.
What: Wolves vs. ClippersWhen: 7 p.m. CTWhere: Target CenterWatch: Fox Sports NorthListen: 830 WCCO Tickets[[{"fid":"95898","view_mode":"default","fields":{"format":"default","alignment":""},"link_text":null,"type":"media","field_deltas":{"1":{"format":"default","alignment":""}},"attributes":{"class":"media-element file-default","data-delta":"1"}}]]
An All-NBA Season
Karl-Anthony Towns continued his incredible season in Saturday’s win over the Grizzlies, finishing with 33 points and 23 rebounds. He now leads the NBA in 30-point, 20-rebound games.
On the season, Towns is averaging 24.7 points, 12.5 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 1.7 blocks per game. If he averaged a half point more per game, those would all be career highs.
He’ll look to get the best of Ivaca Zubac in this one.
In a matchup between Towns and Zubac back on Jan. 24 when Zubac was with the Lakers, Towns finished with 27 points, 12 rebounds, five assists and two blocks. Given the run that Towns is on, I’d expect similar results.[[{"fid":"95899","view_mode":"default","fields":{"format":"default","alignment":""},"link_text":null,"type":"media","field_deltas":{"2":{"format":"default","alignment":""}},"attributes":{"class":"media-element file-default","data-delta":"2"}}]]
The Rookies
The present is going well for the Clippers, but they should also be excited about their future. They are starting two rookies – Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Landry Shamet. Gilgeous-Alexander, the 11th pick in the draft, has started 65 of 74 games this season and is averaging 10.4 points, 3.2 assists, 2.7 rebounds and 1.1 steals per game.
And then there’s Shamet, who the Clippers received from Philadelphia in the Tobias Harris trade. Shamet has been one of the NBA’s’ most surprising rookies. In 18 games with the Clippers, Shamet is averaging 11.2 points per game while shooting a red-hot 45.5 percent from the 3-point line.
The Wolves also have two rookies who look pretty promising as well in Josh Okogie and Keita Bates-Diop. In his last four games, Okogie is averaging 16.8 points per game while shooting 53.3 percent from the field. As for Bates-Diop, the team’s second-round pick, he’s playing valuable minutes with the Wolves down players. He’s coming off an eight-point performance against the Grizzlies. He was a +13 in the game.
Injury Report:
Wolves: Robert Covington (knee), Jeff Teague (foot) and Derrick Rose (elbow) are out. Taj Gibson (calf) and Luol Deng (Achilles) are questionable.
Clippers: Shamet (ankle) is questionable.
Probable Starters:
Wolves: PG – Jones, SG – Okogie, SF – Wiggins, PF – Saric, C - Towns
Clippers: PG – Beverley, SG – Gilgeous-Alexander, SF – Shamet, PF – Gallinari, C - Zubac