It won’t get any easier for the struggling Minnesota Timberwolves when they host the San Antonio Spurs, who are keen to ensure they don’t suffer two straight losses. Join The Roar for live scores from 12pm midday (AEDT).
The Timberwolves have had a long and difficult season, and look destined to miss the play-offs for the 12th year in a row.
While Minnesota have already improved on their 16 wins from last season, they are only just ahead of the Phoenix Suns and Los Angeles Lakers in the Western Conference.
The Timberwolves have also lost four of their last five matches, with the win coming at home over the Brooklyn Nets in a game with precious little defence played.
Minnesota piled on 132 points with first draft pick Karl Anthony Towns scoring 28 and Anthony Wiggins 26. They leaked 118 though, getting smoked in rebounding. The Nets pulled down 48 boards to 34, 19 of them offensive.
The Timberwolves’ biggest positive out of the win was a monster shooting percentage, at almost 70.
The Spurs meanwhile have already qualified for the play-offs, holding the second-best record out west, a few games back from the Golden State Warriors.
After winning eight in a row, with six of them on the road, they suffered a shock loss at the hands of the Indiana Pacers yesterday. Going down by eight on the road is not the worst thing in the world, but the way they lost wasn’t pretty.
They were blown off the court early in proceedings, suffering a 12-point deficit by the end of the first quarter. While they got back into the game, starting that slowly in the play-offs against a team like the Warriors or Cleveland Cavaliers would be disastrous.
Their shooting percentage against the Pacers was abysmal, down at 35 per cent.
The Spurs will rest Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobli for this match, with Tony Parker also out due to a toe injury.
With no Duncan on the court, the Spurs are going to be hard pressed stopping Towns inside. Their outside shooting will have to stand up, led by Parker’s replacement Patty Mills.
The teams have already met twice this season, with the Spurs taking both meetings.
Prediction
The Spurs are understrength, but the Timberwolves keep finding ways to lose.
Spurs by 7.
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