When: 7:30 PM EST; Wednesday, November 5th, 2014
Where: Barclays Center; Brooklyn, NY
TV: YES Network
The Nets’ season-opening loss to the Celtics is nothing but a distant memory now, as Brooklyn has won its last two games and goes for number three tonight at home against the Minnesota Timberwolves, who had an eventful offseason.
In one of the bigger NBA trades in a few seasons, Flip Saunders’ team sent Kevin Love to the Cleveland Cavaliers for 2013 1st overall pick Anthony Bennett, 2014 1st overall pick Andrew Wiggins and a trade exception. In a secondary exchange, the Timberwolves sent Alexey Shved and Luc Richard Mbah a Moute to the Philadelphia 76ers for Thaddeus Young.
Love reportedly wanted out of Minneapolis for some time, so the T-Wolves getting sizable return was a pretty big coup. Wiggins has the potential to be one of the best players in the league down the road, Young has been a solid contributor for his whole career and Bennett athleticism may help him overcome a disastrous rookie season.
None of this really matters to the Nets, who just want to get another home win any way they can with the Knicks coming into Barclays on Friday for a cross-city matchup. Brooklyn is in the middle of a four-game homestand against four very beatable teams. If the Nets can take care of business, they’ll be 4-1 when they head out on a three-game West Coast trip.
Probable Lineups
MIN- Ricky Rubio (PG), Kevin Martin (SG), Andrew Wiggins (SF), Thaddeus Young (PF), Nikola Pekovic (C)
BKN- Deron Williams (PG), Joe Johnson (SG), Bojan Bogdanovic (SF), Kevin Garnett (PF), Brook Lopez (C)
Final Thoughts
Nikola Pekovic always seems to give Brook Lopez and the Nets fits, but without Kevin Love to support him in that frontcourt, will he do the same? Also, the Deron Williams-Ricky Rubio point guard matchup is a really interesting one. Still, the Nets should be able to win this one handedly. Minnesota has talent but just isn’t deep enough to be a strong opponent.
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