Game Preview: Timberwolves v Cavaliers

The Minnesota Timberwolves play host to the Cleveland Cavaliers, at Target
Center on Tuesday evening. The Timberwolves (21-34) have won two of their last
three games. They are coming off a lopsided 117-89 win over the shorthanded
Bulls on Sunday, where Andrew Wiggins led the way with 27 points on 10-of-19
shooting. Karl-Anthony Towns followed up with 22 points, while Ricky Rubio added
17 points and 11 assists in the win. Brandon Rush has been drawing the starts
since Zach LaVine went down, and is averaging 4.8 points per game over the last
five games. The T-Wolves sit 13th in the West, four games behind the
eighth-place Nuggets. This marks the sixth and final game of a home stand for
Minnesota, where the Timberwolves have gone 2-3 so far. They will need to bounce
the defending champs in order to finish the home stand with a .500 record, and
that will likely depend largely on the performances of their two leading
scorers, Towns, who averages 23.7 points and Wiggins, who averages 22.6 points
per game. Meanwhile, the Cavs (37-16) are 7-3 in their last 10 games, as they
are mostly looking good after a couple rough patches early in 2017. They are
coming off a 125-109 home win over the Nuggets on Saturday, where LeBron James
and Kyrie Irving led the way with 27 points each. Tristan Thompson did a good
job to hold it down in the middle, as he finished with 13 points and 13 rebounds
in the win. The Cavs will need Thompson to bring it once again, as he will be
matched up against Towns, one of the leagues most dynamic centers. Unfortunately
for Cleveland, Kevin Love has been afflicted by a sore left knee and will likely
be sidelined through Tuesday, as he is supposedly seeking a second opinion on
the seriousness of the injury. The Cavs have won three of their last four games
on the road, where they are 14-11 so far this season.