Game Preview: Timberwolves at Kings

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Timberwolves at Kings

Monday, February 27th, 2017 at 9:30 p.m. at the Golden 1 Center

MATCHUP

After a frustrating game of watching the Rockets throw up 600 3-pointers, Minnesota looks to rebound versus the Kings. The Wolves come into this game with a 23-36 record holding the 12th spot in the Western Conference. Sacramento looks to sneak into the 8th seed with a 25-34 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

Kings:

PG: Darren Collison #7

SG: Ben McLemore #23

SF: Tyreke Evans #32

PF: Anthony Tolliver #43

C: Kosta Koufos #41

Injury Report

Timberwolves: 

Nikola Pekovic – out/season (recurring foot pain)

Zach LaVine – out/season (ACL)

Kings:

Rudy Gay – out (knee)

Aaron Afflalo – questionable (hamstring)

Last Meeting

The Timberwolves and Kings will face off for the 3rd time this season. The last time they played was December 23rd, 2016. The game was played at the Target Center. DeMarcus Cousins lead the way for the Kings with 32 points, 7 rebounds, and 7 assists. Zach LaVine exploded for 40 points, but it wasn’t enough. Wolves lose 109-105.

Minnesota will face off against a Cousins-less Kings team for the first time since his trade to the Pelicans.

Noteworthy

Match-up to watch tonight: Ricky Rubio & Darren Collison. Rubio has been the center of attention lately. Between the trade rumors and his play, all eyes are on him. Since Cousins’ trade to the Pelicans, Collison has taken over his role and has had the offense run through him. It’s going to be fun to watch these two go at it.

Player to watch: Skal Labissiere. This dude is a stud. Coming out of high school, he was one of the top recruited prospects in the nation. He had a challenging run at Kentucky where he played college ball. He was drafted 28th in the 2016 NBA Draft on a “what if” basis. With Cousins’ trade to the Pelicans, he has seen a huge increase in minutes. He’s been putting up some career high numbers and making good use of those minutes. Minnesota is generally not the best in defending big men. I project him to get some solid minutes and production tonight.

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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