Game Preview: Timberwolves host Kings

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Timberwolves host Kings

Friday, December 23rd, 2016 at 7:00 p.m. at the Target Center

MATCHUP

2 game win streak! After a nice win versus Atlanta on Wednesday, Minnesota looks to extend their small run. The Wolves return to Minneapolis with a 9-19 record holding the 13th spot in the Western Conference. The Kings look to counter with a 12-17 record holding the 9th spot in the Western 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

Kings:

PG: Darren Collison #7

SG: Ben McLemore #23

SF: Matt Barnes #22

PF: DeMarcus Cousins #15

C: Kosta Koufos #41 (Have fun pronouncing it, @AaronGroshong)

Injury Report

Timberwolves: 

Nikola Pekovic – out/season (recurring foot pain)

Kings:

Rudy Gay – questionable (hip)

Omri Casspi – questionable (illness)

Last Meeting

The Timberwolves and Kings faced off once already this year. The Kings walked away with a narrow 3 point win. Minnesota once held an 18 point lead, but ended up blowing it in the second half. The Wolves had a major #TurdThird to say the least. They got outscored 12 points to 31 points in the 3rd quarter. DeMarcus Cousins lead the way for Sacramento with 29 points. Rudy Gay also had an impressive 28 points. Andrew Wiggins had 29 points himself, but it wasn’t enough. Wolves lose 106-103.

Noteworthy

Match-up to watch tonight: Karl-Anthony Towns and DeMarcus Cousins. My guess is, Thibs will have Towns man-up on Cousins. Those two in my humble opinion, are the best all-around centers in the NBA. It will be interesting to see those two go at it all game.

Player to watch: Ty Lawson. Now I know Ty Lawson isn’t the same Denver Nuggets Ty Lawson, but he’s still decent. He’s averaging 7.7 ppg so far this season. Don’t let those numbers stray you, he can still get buckets. He could give Dunn a run for his money coming off the bench.

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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