Game Preview: Timberwolves at Bulls

Alan Draper

Sports Editor

December 13 2016 3 min read

*Check out The Howl Podcast for everything Timberwolves HERE *

Game Preview: Timberwolves vs. Bulls

Tuesday, December 13, 2016 at 7 p.m. at United Center in Chicago, Illinois.

MATCHUP:

The Timberwolves are coming off a surprisingly competitive loss against the Western Conference behemoths, the Golden State Warriors. The trio of Wiggins/Towns/Lavine scored a combined 75 points, but it wasn’t enough to overcome a late 4th quarter surge led by Klay Thompson. Sunday marked the Wolves forth loss in a row. Chicago currently sits at 13-10, good enough for the 5th seed in the Eastern conference. The team can be streaky at times, but exceptional play from Jimmy Butler and Dwyane Wade have helped the Bulls employ a strong transition away from the Rose/Noah era.

PROJECTED STARTERS:

Timberwolves:

PG: Ricky Rubio #9

SG: Zach LaVine #8

SF: Andrew Wiggins #22

PF: Gorgui Dieng #5

C: Karl-Anthony Towns #32

Bulls:

PG: Rajon Rondo #9

SG: Dwyane Wade #3

SF: Jimmy Butler #21

PF: Taj Gibson #22

C: Robin Lopez #8

INJURY REPORT:

Timberwolves: Nikola Pekovic – out/season (recurring ankle pain), Nemanja Bjelica – game time decision (ankle)

Bulls: Michael Carter-Williams – out (wrist)

LAST MEETING:

Minnesota managed to pull off a surprising two game sweep against the Chicago Bulls during the 2015-16 year. In the first early season matchup, Wiggins feasted on the opposing wing players from the perimeter. The Wolves swingman finished with 31 points, and showed inklings of the shooting potential he’s flashed this season in fits and bursts, going 4-5 from beyond the arc. Jimmy Butler was held to a paltry 4-15 and committed a game high five turnovers while squared up against Wiggins for most of the night. The Timberwolves won in overtime 102-93.

The second meeting was more of the same. Minnesota dominated the glass, finishing with a 45-31 margin over the Bulls, and Gorgui and Towns each collected 5 offensive boards. Second chance points were key during the contest. Three Timberwolves players finished with over 20 points against a Chicago team struggling without Jimmy Butler. Minnesota won 112-105.

NOTEWORTHY:

Although Fred Hoiberg was known for a fast-paced, 3-point heavy offense during his tenure at Iowa State University, the Bulls play a style of basketball more akin to the mid-1990s. they rank 30th in 3 pointers attempted and made, with most of their points coming from beneath the basket or the mid range. Chicago relies heavily on second chance points, ranking 2nd in offensive rebounds, and could punish the Wolves poor interior defense on the glass.

Chicago leads the league in FTA, so expect the burden of the scoring load to lay on the shoulders of Andrew Wiggins in this one.

BROADCAST INFORMATION:

TV: Fox Sports North – Dave Benz (play-by-play), Jim Peterson (analyst)

Radio: 830 WCCO-AM – Alan Horton (play-by-play)

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(All stats found on NBA.com and basketball-reference)

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