The Game
The Wolves and Spurs have parted ways in the Western Conference standings since their first matchup of the season on Nov. 13.
Before the Wolves defeated the Spurs 129-114 on Nov. 13, the Wolves were 6-4 and tied for seventh in the West while the Spurs were sitting in ninth place with a 5-5 record. The Spurs have won one game since their first meeting with the Wolves and have dropped down to 13th place.
The Wolves have gone 3-4 since they hosted the Spurs at Target Center but have maintained their seventh-place standing. Plus, the Wolves have a new starting backcourt.
Well, it’s technically not a new Wolves starting backcourt for San Antonio. The Wolves rolled with Andrew Wiggins and Jarrett Culver as their starting backcourt on Nov. 13 while typical starting point guard Jeff Teague came off the bench in his first game back from missing four games due to illness. Teague is healthy now, but the Wolves have decided he’ll be better suited as the second unit’s floor general while Wiggins and Culver share the ball-handling load in the starting group.
That worked out pretty well on Nov. 13.
Wiggins, who had arguably his best game of the season against the Spurs, and Culver combined for 42 points on 18 of 33 shooting from the field, 10 assists (seven of which came from Wiggins) and just two turnovers (both of which were recorded by Wiggins). On top of that, the Wolves registered their season-best offensive rating of 126.5, and four players finished with over 15 points on Nov. 13.
The Wolves will lean on Wiggins’ distributing skills to get everyone involved in their second game of the season against the Spurs who are coming off of a hard-fought, 10-point loss to the 15-2 Lakers.
San Antonio’s DeMar DeRozan and LaMarcus Aldridge are averaging a combined 45 points per game in their last seven games, but the Spurs have struggled to find enough reliable scoring options in their 1-6 stretch. San Antonio also made a change to its starting backcourt in an attempt to solve its offensive struggles. San Antonio replaced starting point guard Dejounte Murray with Derrick White on Monday night, and thanks to a positive net rating from the new starting bunch, it’s likely the Spurs will continue to roll with this change for the time being.
What: Wolves at SpursWhen: 7:30 p.m. CT, Wednesday, Nov. 27Where: AT&T CenterWatch: Fox Sports NorthListen: 830 WCCO
Can Your Center Do That?
It seems like Karl-Anthony Towns has broken a new milestone after every game this season. That’s not an exaggeration.
Towns hit his 60th 3-pointer of the season in Monday night’s win over the Hawks and is now averaging 4.0 3s per game, which is good for third in the league just behind James Harden and Paul George who has only played six games in the 2019-20 season. Towns is now just one of three players in league history to average 4+ triples per contest in their first 15 games of any season. Steph Curry (3x) and Harden (2x) are the other two players to accomplish that feat. That isn't shabby company.
No other center in the league is averaging more than 2.3 made 3s per game.
Would You Believe Me If I Told You . . .
The Spurs are attempting a league-high 25.4 mid-range shots per game, according to NBA.com. The Wolves only shoot 7.8 mid-range shots per game, which ties them for the fifth-lowest average in the league with the Bucks.
The Wolves were attempting 17.4 mid-range shots per game (eighth-most in the league) after the first 17 games of the 2018-19 season.
Injury Report:
Wolves: Jake Layman (toe) and Shabazz Napier (hamstring) are both game-time decisions.
Spurs: No injuries to report.
Projected Starters:
Wolves: PG—Wiggins, SG—Culver, SF—Graham, PF—Covington, C—Towns
Spurs: PG—White, SG—Bryn Forbes, SF—DeMar DeRozan, PF—LaMarcus Aldridge, C—Jakob Poeltl