GAME PREVIEW: TIMBERWOLVES VS NUGETS

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Thursday, Nov. 3, 2016 at 7:00 P.M. at Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

MATCHUP:

The Timberwolves will suit up in their first game against fellow Northwest Divisional opponent the Denver Nuggets this Thursday. Minnesota is coming off a dominating first win of the season against Memphis, and hopes to carry the momentum into a game against a young Nuggets team that’s currently on a 2 game losing skid. Denver is sitting at a 1-2 record.

PROJECTED STARTERS:

Timberwolves:

PG: Kris Dunn #3

SG: Zach LaVine #8

SF: Andrew Wiggins #22

PF: Gorgui Dieng #5

C: Karl-Anthony Towns #32

Nuggets:

PG: Emmanuel Mudiay #0

SG: Jamal Murray #27

SF: Danilo Gallinari #8

PF: Nikola Jokic #15

C: Jusuf Nurkic #23

INJURY REPORT:

Timberwolves:  Nikola Pekovic – out/season (recurring foot pain), Ricky Rubio – out (elbow)

Nuggets: Gary Harris – out (groin), Will Barton – out (ankle), Darrell Arther – probable (knee)

LAST MEETING:

Denver and Minnesota met four times the previous season, with the Nuggets edging out the series 3-1. The Wolves were able to lock up their first match of the season 95-78, behind a dominating line of 28-14-2  with 4 blocks from Karl-Anthony Towns. 

The following meeting ended in a disappointing overtime loss, where Andrew Wiggins and Kevin Martin’s combined 44 point effort was not enough to overcome Denver’s tenacious effort on behalf of their bench.

After losing the 3rd meeting 100-112, the Wolves and Nuggets would meet for one final time in January. In a surprisingly low-scoring affair, Karl-Anthony Towns and the Timberwolves were unable to stop the return of Jusuf Nurkic, who posted a commanding 15-10-2 with 5 blocks to lead Denver to a 78-74 win.

NOTEWORTHY:

Look for Kris Dunn to be especially aggressive on defense tonight. Emmanuel Mudiay struggles with taking care of the ball at times – he’s racked up 5 or more turnovers in 2 of the last 3 games – and Dunn’s pesky defense should be a problem for the 2nd year guard .

Nurkic has exploded out of the gate this season, emerging as one of the more dominant big men in the post. His per-36 numbers are currently at 20-15-2, and it will more than likely fall on Towns to shut him down. Last meeting Nurkic was able to bully his team to a win from down low, and preventing the Denver center from getting into any sort of rhythm in the post should be the Wolves number one priority on the defensive end.

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.com)