Game Preview: Timberwolves at Blazers

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Timberwolves at Blazers

Saturday, March 25th, 2017 at 9:00 p.m. at the Moda Center

MATCHUP

Well, just about the only good thing to take away from last night’s game was Andrew Wiggins’ new hair style. Kawhi Leonard might have some competition. Minnesota comes into Portland with a 28-43 record holding the 12th spot in the Western Conference. Portland is in a must win situation with a 33-38 record holding the 9th spot in the Western Conference.

Projected Starters

Timberwolves:

PG: Ricky Rubio #9

SG: Brandon Rush #4

SF: Andrew Wiggins #22

PF: Gorgui Dieng #5

C: Karl-Anthony Towns #32

Blazers:

PG: Damian Lillard #0

SG: CJ McCollum #3

SF: Maurice Harkless #4

PF: Noah Vonleh #21

C: Jusuf Nurkic #27

Injury Report

Timberwolves: 

Nikola Pekovic – out/season (recurring foot pain)

Zach LaVine – out/season (ACL)

Nemanja Bjelica – out/season (ankle)

Blazers:

Festus Ezeli – out/season (knee)

Ed Davis – out/season (shoulder)

Last Meeting

The Timberwolves and Blazers will face off for the 2nd time this season. The last time they played was January 1st, 2017. The game was played at the Target Center. CJ McCollum took the Wolves by storm and scored 43 points. He lead Portland to a 95-89 win over our Wolves.

Minnesota was supposed to play the Blazers on March 6th, but it got postponed due to condensation leaking through the floor from Disney On Ice. #ClassicWolves

Noteworthy

Match-up to watch tonight: Ricky Rubio & Damian Lillard. This is always one of my favorite point guard duos to watch. Dame usually outplays Ricky, but it’s still fun…right? Lillard wants to get his team into the playoffs. He will be coming out with no mercy.

Player to watch: Jusuf Nurkic. One of the most underrated players in the NBA. Portland trading for him secured their center for the foreseeable future. Minnesota isn’t the best at defending the post. Since Nurkic is a bruiser, he could possess a challenge for KAT and Gorgui.

Broadcast Information

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

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

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

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