The Wolves are 2-0 against the Atlanta Hawks (7th in East), 1-1 against the Toronto Raptors (2nd in East), 1-1 against the Miami Heat (3rd in East), and they have earned wins over the Memphis Grizzlies (5th in West) and the Los Angeles Clippers (4th in West).
For a young team, hey, that’s pretty good!
But wait.
They are 0-2 against the New York Knicks (13th in East), 1-1 against the Philadelphia 76ers (15th in East) and 1-3 against the Denver Nuggets (11th in West).
For a young team, hey, that’s pretty normal!
That was on prime display when the Wolves went out West in early February to play the Lakers on Clippers on back-to-back nights. Logically, you’d think the Wolves would beat the Lakers and fall to the Clippers. Only quite the opposite happened. The Wolves fell to the Lakers by four points before beating the Clippers by six the next night.
Minnesota has some winnable games on their schedule. Phoenix (twice), Brooklyn, Milwaukee, Sacramento and New Orleans. Chances are the Wolves will fall in one or more of those games.
They also play tough teams like the Spurs, Mavericks, Clippers, Jazz, Blazers and Warriors. Chances are the Wolves will steal one or more of these games.
I recently listened to the Bill Simmons Podcast. Simmons asked why the Wolves weren’t winning more games with the core of Andrew Wiggins and Karl-Anthony Towns.
I’m a big Simmons fan, but the question is pretty simple to answer. Wiggins and Towns are 21 and 20, respectively.
During Kevin Durant’s second year and Russell Westbrook’s rookie year in Oklahoma City, the Thunder won 23 games.
It’s Who Finishes That Matters
There’s been some talk about whether or not Tayshaun Prince or Zach LaVine should start for the Wolves. It’s not rocket science to know that LaVine is the future while Prince is well, not.
But it’s not about who starts the game. It’s really about who finishes it. Crunch time.
Take Wednesday’s game against the Raptors for example. Prince started and played 16:44. LaVine didn’t start, but played 32:32, including the ENTIRE fourth quarter.
But Kyle, doesn’t that throw off his rhythm?
Maybe, but it’s not like LaVine’s minutes has been inconsistent of late. LaVine has played 25 or more minutes in his last 13 games and has played more than 30 in eight. Basically, LaVine knows he’s going to play and probably play a lot.
In those 13 games, LaVine is averaging 16.7 points per game. Eventually, LaVine will probably be the starting shooting guard of the Wolves. But it probably says more that right now Mitchell is comfortable closing out games with him.
Starting Prince enables Mitchell to have Wiggins start at shooting guard, hopefully creating an offensive mismatch early in the game to get the team off to a good start.
Randomness
Not a lot this week. My apologies. I can’t tell if I’m burnt out from the All-Star Weekend still or lazy. Maybe a combination of the two.
(Hoping boss isn’t reading this.)
As always, thanks for reading. Have a great weekend.
