The Game
The Wolves are trying to get back into the win category on Thursday night in Charlotte against the Hornets.
Minnesota has dropped four-straight games and sit at 32-39 on the season, good for 10th in the West. The Wolves are coming off a 117-107 home loss to the Warriors on Tuesday.
Charlotte is 31-39 on the season, good for 10th in the East. The Hornets are coming off a 118-114 home loss to the 76ers on Tuesday.
This is the final matchup between the two teams this season. The Wolves beat the Hornets 121-104 back on Dec. 5. Obviously, that was a much healthier version of this Wolves team.
What: Wolves at HornetsWhen: 6 p.m. CTWhere: Spectrum CenterWatch: Fox Sports NorthListen: 830 WCCO [[{"fid":"95815","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"}}]]
Climbing Up The Charts
Karl-Anthony Towns enters Thursday’s game needing just 10 points to pass Kevin Love for fourth on the team’s all-time scoring list with 6,990 points. The way Towns has played lately, he might hit that mark in the first quarter.
After Love, next up on the list for Towns to pass is Sam Mitchell, who has 7,161 points. Towns needs 182 points to pass Mitchell. With his averages, he should hit that mark in about eight games, or on Friday, April 5 at home against the Miami Heat.
A reminder that Towns is only 23 years old.
Of course, Kevin Garnett is first in team history with 19,201 career points.
Fighting For A Playoff Spot
The Hornets find themselves three games back from a playoff spot. Per FiveThirtyEight, the Hornets have a six-percent chance of making the playoffs. The Hornets have been stuck in playoff purgatory for a while now. Being right on the cusp of being a playoff team, but not enough to thread the needle to a high lottery pick or a high playoff seed.
It’s unlikely to change this year, especially with the Celtics, Spurs, Warriors, Jazz and Raptors (twice) on their schedule in the remaining 12 games of the season. But you know the Hornets will come out hungry in this one.
Injury Report:
Wolves: Taj Gibson (calf) is questionable. Robert Covington (knee), Luol Deng (Achilles), Jeff Teague (foot) and Derrick Rose (elbow) are out.
Hornets: TBA
Probable Starters:
Wolves: PG – Jones, SG – Okogie, SF – Wiggins, PF – Saric, C - Towns
Hornets: PG – Walker, SG – Batum, SF – Bridges, PF – Williams, C - Biyombo