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Game Preview: Timberwolves vs. Jazz
Saturday, Jan. 7th, 2017 at 7 p.m. at Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota
Matchup
The Timberwolves enter Saturday’s game on the second night of a back-to-back following a 105-112 loss to the Washington Wizards. Despite a monster 41 point game from Andrew WIggins, the remainder of the Wolves roster were sluggish and lethargic. No one’s shot was able to fall in the closing moments of the fourth, and Minnesota notched up their third loss in a row and the 25th of the season.
Utah has lost the previous two games to the Celtics and Raptors following a four game win streak to close out December. The roster is finally fully healthy and beginning to gel comfortably, particularly on the defensive end behind the stalwart play of Rudy Gobert. The Utah Jazz have the fourth best defensive rating in the NBA and sit fifth 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
Jazz
PG: Shelvin Mack #8
SG: Rodney Hood #5
SF: Gordan Hayward #20
PF: Derek Favors #15
C: Rudy Gobert #27
Injury Report
Timberwolves: Nikola Pekovic – out/season (recurring ankle pain)
Jazz: N/A
Last Meeting
The Timberwolves lost their previous meeting with the Jazz in November. Rudy Gobert was a monster in this game, and his contribution on the glass was one of the key factors in the Jazz win. Gobert collected eight offensive rebounds to go along with his sixteen points and three blocks, and the Wolves had no counter over his ability to score second-chance points beneath the basket. Despite shooting woes on behalf of Rodney Hood, Gordan Hayward was able to pick up much of the offensive slack, beating the Timberwolves from the foul line. He finished the game with 24 points and went 12-15 from the line.
Karl-Anthony Towns was a team worst -18 in the game and struggled to go toe-to-toe against Rudy Gobert. He finished the game with 19 points on 8-19 shooting and committed five fouls. Wiggins was no where to be found, finishing the game with 13 points on 6-16 shooting before fouling out of the game. Zach Lavine was the only bright spot for the Timberwolves, finishing with a monster line of 28-8-8 on 9-17 shooting. There’s still issues to point out on defense, but when Lavine can fire from all cylinders like this on the offensive end, there really isn’t much room to complain.
Noteworthy
The Utah Jazz are the perfect foil for the direction modern NBA basketball is going. They rank dead last in pace, preferring to slow the game down and grind out every possession on the offensive end, winning games with their strong defensive presence over their ability to rain down shots from the perimeter. The Jazz rarely break 100 in a game, ranking 28th in the NBA pts/game, but they hold opponents to 95.3, or the best mark in the league. Minnesota needs to be patient on offense, and buck against their incessant penchant for contested shots in isolation over the natural flow of the ball. This will be a slow, grating game of basketball and the Wolves will find themselves out of it very quickly if they refuse to value each offensive possession. Hopefully Lavine and Towns can make up for their poor performance the previous night and bring the Timberwolves their first win of 2017 against a legitimately good playoff team.
Broadcast Information
TV: Fox Sports North – Dave Benz (play-by-play), Jim Peterson (analyst)
Radio: 830 WCCO-AM – Alan Horton (play-by-play)
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