7:00 p.m., Target Center
Where to Watch: Fox Sports North
Where to Listen: 830 WCCO
The Minnesota Timberwolves are (finally) back at home on Monday night.
That’s the good news.
The bad news is that they will be going up against the NBA’s best team, the Golden State Warriors.
The Wolves go into the game with a 22-47 record, good for 13th in the West.
The Warriors are hoping to break the Chicago Bulls’ record and go 73-9. They currently sit at 62-7, good for first in the West.
A few tidbits going into Monday night’s game:
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The Wolves teamed up with Clorox to host #WolvesInWhite. If you’re going to the game, wear white.
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Zach LaVine in the month of March: 19.6 points per game, 50.7 percent from the field and 47.9 percent from the 3-point line. Not bad.
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Draymond Green has really struggled in the second half of the season, scoring just 11.8 points per game while shooting just 25.5 percent from the 3-point line.
Coming Off Of
The Wolves are coming off of a 116-111 road loss to the Houston Rockets on Friday. Karl-Anthony Towns had himself a night, finishing with 32 points, 11 rebounds and two steals. Andrew Wiggins added 21 points and five assists while shooting 8-for-12 from the field. LaVine scored 15, nine coming from the 3-point line. Ricky Rubio and Gorgui Dieng finished with 14 and 13 points, respectively. Shabazz Muhammad led the bench with 12 points. Minnesota’s offense was great, shooting 50.6 percent but the defense wasn’t so hot, allowing the Rockets to shooting 56.5 percent from the field.
The Warriors are coming off of an 87-79 road loss to the second-place San Antonio Spurs on Saturday night. It was an off shooting night for the Splash Bros., as Steph Curry and Klay Thompson combined for just 29 points and 11-for-38 shooting from the field and 2-for-19 from the 3-point line. Green nearly added a triple-double, finishing with 11 points, nine rebounds and eight assists. Brandon Rush added 10 points in the start. The Warriors shot an uncharacteristic 25 percent (9-for-36) from the 3-point line and got to the free-throw line just 10 times (made eight).
Last Matchup:
The two teams last played on Nov. 12 at the Target Center. The Warriors came away with a 129-116 win thanks to 46 points from Curry. Curry shot 15-for-25 from the field and 8-for-13 from the 3-point line. Green added 23 points, 12 assists and eight rebounds. The Wolves held Thompson in check, holding him to just 15 points on 16 shots. Harrison Barnes and Festus Ezeli finished with 14 and 10 points, respectively.
Golden State shot 53.9 percent from the field, 47.4 percent from the 3-point line and 93.8 percent from the free-throw line.
The bench was big for Minnesota in this one, finishing with 61 of the team’s 116 points. Muhammad led that group with 16 points, while Kevin Martin (no longer with team) added 15. Andre Miller (no longer with team) and Dieng added 11 points each. Wiggins led the starters with 19 points to go with five assists. Towns added 17 points and 11 rebounds but turned the ball over five times. LaVine scored 13, but shot just 3-for-11. The Wolves were without Rubio
Key Matchup: Literally Everyone vs. Steph Curry
Just stop Curry and you’ll win. Yeah, right.
Curry will probably win the MVP and could probably win the Most Improved Award as well. He’s averaging 30.3 points (career-high and NBA leader) to go with 6.5 assists, 5.4 rebounds and two steals per game. He’s shooting 50.9 percent from the field and… wait for it… 45.7 PERCENT FROM THE 3-POINT LINE.
In 18 games against the Wolves, he’s averaging 23.8 points, 7.4 assists and 4.4 rebounds.
There’s clearly no formula for stopping Curry, but it seems to help opposing teams (like San Antonio on Saturday) when they play him physical early and often.
The main defender on Curry will be Rubio, who is one of the best perimeter defenders in the NBA. He’ll certainly have his hands full on Monday night against Curry.
Injuries:
Warriors: Kevon Looney (hip), Andre Iguodala (ankle) and Festus Ezeli (knee) are out. Andrew Bogut (toe) is questionable.
Wolves: Nikola Pekovic (foot) and Kevin Garnett (knee) are both out.
Projected Starters:
Warriors: PG - Curry, SG - Thompson, SF - Rush, PF - Barnes, C - Green
Wolves: PG- Rubio, SG- LaVine, SF- Wiggins, PF- Dieng, C- Towns