Game Preview: Timberwolves vs. Nuggets

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Game Preview: Timberwolves vs. Nuggets

Sunday, Jan. 22, 2017 at 6 p.m. at the Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota

MATCHUP:

Minnesota is coming off a thrilling late-night 104-101 victory over the Clippers in Los Angeles last Thursday. That win leaves the Twolves with a 15-28 record this season, good enough for 12th place in the Western Conference standings.

Karl-Anthony Towns had an extremely impressive performance, almost singlehandedly getting the Wolves the win, as KAT outscored the Clippers all by himself in the final 6:39 in the fourth quarter. Towns finished with 37 points and 12 rebounds, scoring 15 points in the final quarter alone.

The Denver Nuggets enter tonight’s contest with a 18-24 record, holding the eight spot in the West. The Nuggets played the Clippers yesterday in Denver, as they had no troubles with the oft-injured Los Angeles team, winning 123-98. Denver has won four of their last five games.

PROJECTED STARTERS:

Timberwolves:

PG: Kris Dunn #3
SG: Zach LaVine #8
SF: Andrew Wiggins #22
PF: Gorgui Dieng #5
C: Karl-Anthony Towns #32

Nuggets:

PG: Emmanuel Mudiay #0
SG: Will Barton #5
SF: Danilo Gallinari #8
PF: Kenneth Faried #35
C: Nikola Jokic #15

INJURY REPORT:

Timberwolves: Nikola Pekovic – out/season (recurring ankle pain), Ricky Rubio – out (personal)

Nuggets: Gary Harris – questionable (ankle), Emmanuel Mudiay – out (back), Danilo Gallinari – probable (ankle)

LAST MEETING:

The most recent meeting between these two occurred Dec. 28, with Denver narrowly sneaking out the 105-103 win at the Pepsi Center.

Danilo Gallinari led an even scoring output for the Nuggets, managing 18 points to pair with five rebounds. Wilson Chandler ended with 17 points, and big man Nikola Jokic finished with a solid all-around stat line of 16 points, 11 assists, and eight rebounds.

For the Wolves, Andrew Wiggins led the way in the scoring department, ending with a game-high 25 points. Gorgui Dieng also had a good showing, scoring 20 points and grabbing eight boards. Denver leads the season series 2-0 as of now.

NOTEWORTHY:

Ricky Rubio is out for the Wolves tonight due to personal reasons, so look for rookie Kris Dunn to get extended time tonight. Minnesota native Tyus Jones should also get more minutes on the floor. One would have to think if those two can successfully fill Rubio’s void, it would make a trade easier to accommodate, if that is the route Thibs and co. choose to pursue.

BROADCAST INFORMATION:

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

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

(Stats found on nba.com, and basketball-reference.com)

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