Scouting Report | Wolves at Grizzlies

The Wolves close out the season series against the Grizzlies in Memphis on Saturday night.

Minnesota goes into the game with a 32-40 record, 10th in the West. The Wolves are trying to snap a five-game losing streak. They are coming off a 113-106 road loss to the Hornets on Thursday night in Charlotte.

Memphis goes into the game with a 29-43 record, 13th in the West. The Grizzlies are coming off a 123-119 overtime road loss to the Magic on Friday night in Orlando, so they’ll have the battle of a road/home back-to-back. 

The Grizzlies lead the season series 2-1. 

On Thursday against the Hornets, Karl-Anthony Towns passed Kevin Love to move into fourth place on the team’s all-time scoring list.

Towns currently has 7,001 career points and is only 160 points from passing Sam Mitchell to move into third place. If Towns averages 24.6 points per game, which is his season average, he’ll pass the mark in seven games. That would be on April 5 at home against the Miami Heat.

In first place, of course, is Kevin Garnett and his 19,201 points.

It’s been 14 games since the Grizzlies acquired Jonas Valanciunas in the Marc Gasol trade. Valanciunas has been solid with the Grizzlies, averaging 19.4 points, 9.6 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.4 blocks per game. Those numbers would all be career highs.

He’s been late, especially in the last two games. He’s coming off a 23-point, 24-rebound game against the Magic and is two games removed from a 33-point, 15-rebound performance against the Rockets. 

Towns will have his hands full against one of the more physical centers in the league. 

Wolves: Taj Gibson (calf) is questionable. Robert Covington (knee), Luol Deng (Achilles), Jeff Teague (foot) and Derrick Rose (elbow) are out. 

Grizzlies: TBA

Wolves: PG – Jones, SG – Okogie, SF – Wiggins, PF – Saric, C – Towns

Grizzlies: PG – Conley, SG – Wright, SF – Holiday, PF – Caboclo, C - Valanciunas