Game Preview: Timberwolves at Hornets

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Timberwolves at Hornets

Saturday, December 3rd, 2016 at 6:00 p.m. at the Spectrum Center

MATCHUP

Well, last night is never a good way to start off the month of December. Even though Minnesota only lost by 4 points, the game was still abysmal to watch. If it wasn’t for the last 5 minutes in the 4th quarter, it would’ve been a blowout. The Timberwolves roll into Charlotte with a 5-14 record holding down the 14th spot in the Western Conference. The Hornets counter with a respectable 11-8 record and hold the 5th spot in the Eastern Conference.

Projected Starters

Timberwolves:

PG: Ricky Rubio #9

SG: Zach LaVine #8

SF: Andrew Wiggins #22

PF: Gorgui Dieng #5

C: Karl-Anthony Towns #32

Hornets:

PG: Kemba Walker #15

SG: Nicolas Batum #5

SF: Michael Kidd-Gilchrist #14

PF: Frank Kaminsky #44

C: Cody Zeller #40

Injury Report

Timberwolves: 

Nikola Pekovic – out/season (recurring foot pain)

Hornets:

Marvin Williams – questionable (knee)

Last Meeting

The Timberwolves and Hornets faced off once already this year on November 15th. Minnesota had the lead heading into the locker room, and then blew it with an abysmal 3rd quarter. The 4th quarter was dead even, but the 19 point deficit from the 3rd quarter crushed their chances of winning the game. Kemba Walker lead the way for the Hornets with 30 points. Andrew Wiggins tried his best to even him out with 29 points. Minnesota loses 115-108.

Noteworthy

Match-up to watch tonight: Ricky Rubio and Kemba Walker. Kemba Walker has been the backbone of this Charlotte team. He has been putting up all-star type numbers with the wins to show for it. Walker is averaging 23.9 points per game so far this season, whereas Rubio is averaging 6.6. Point guard play hasn’t been a strong suit for Minnesota lately. Between Rubio, Dunn, and Jones, it seems like the fans have the most confidence in Tyus Jones. Poor Tyus didn’t even take off his warm-ups Friday against the Knicks. Rubio needs to find a way to contain Walker. If we can do that, we might have a chance to win the game.

Player to watch: Frank Kaminsky. Well well well. Frank “The Tank” Kaminsky. We meet again. Hello Darkness, My Old Friend. Ok, I’m done with the Simon & Garfunkel lyrics. In his last meeting with Minnesota, Kaminsky posted up 20 points off the bench for the Hornets. The 7 foot, Big Ten prodigy is averaging 10.9 points per game this season. My guess is Gorgui Dieng will end up guarding him. That being said, Gorgui’s lack of defensive effort against the Knicks makes me worry a little. He let Kyle O’Quinn drop 20 points and 13 rebounds on us. In my humble opinion, Frank Kaminsky is a better overall player than O’Quinn. We can’t afford to have someone like Kaminsky drop that many on us. Especially since Frank can stretch out to the 3 point line. It’s well known that Dieng isn’t that great of a 3 point defender.

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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