7:00 p.m., Target Center
Where to Watch: Fox Sports North
Where to Listen: 830 WCCO
The Minnesota Timberwolves will start a three-game road trip on Wednesday night against the Toronto Raptors.
Minnesota goes into the game with an 18-39 record, good for 13th in the West. Toronto is 37-18, second and just three games behind Cleveland.
A few tidbits going into tonight’s game:
Coming Off Of…
The Wolves are coming off of a 124-122 home win over the Boston Celtics on Monday. Towns led the way with 28 points, 13 rebounds, four assists and two blocks. Andrew Wiggins and Gorgui Dieng scored 17 each, while Dieng also hauled in 12 rebounds. Zach LaVine and Ricky Rubio scored 16 and 15 points, respectively. Rubio also had eight rebounds and eight assists. Shabazz Muhammad led the second unit with 13 points.
The Raptors are coming off of a 122-95 road win over the New York Knicks on Monday. Kyle Lowry led the way with 22 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists. DeMar DeRozan also added 22 points. Jonas Valanciunas finished with 20 points. Cory Joseph led the second unit with 12 points, all coming from the 3-point line. James Johnson and Terrence Ross finished with 12 points each. Bismack Biyombo nearly finished with a double-double, scoring 10 points while hauling in nine rebounds.
Last Matchup
The two teams last faced off on Feb. 10, right before All-Star Weekend. The Wolves upset the Raptors, beating them 117-112 at home.
Towns led the way with 35 points, 11 rebounds and three blocks. Wiggins added 26 points. Rubio nearly had a triple-double, finishing with 19 points, eight rebounds and eight assists. Dieng and LaVine added 14 and 13 points, respectively.
DeRozan led Toronto with 35 points. Lowry had 14, but shot just 4-for-15. Valanciunas and Ross finished with 12 and 11 points, respectively.
Key Matchup: Ricky Rubio vs. Kyle Lowry
Rubio continued his strong season on Monday night. Despite not being a great shooter, Rubio has continued to find ways to dominate in other areas. He’s averaging 8.8 assists (ties career high) to go with 2.2 steals and 4.4 assists. Despite not being a great shooter, Rubio has gotten to the free-throw line 4.4 times per game and he’s making 82.5 percent (career high) of his shots from the charity stripe.
In six career games against Toronto, Rubio is averaging 9.7 points, 7.5 assists and 5.0 rebounds per game.
Lowry proved why he was an All-Star on Monday and he’s been terrific all season for the Raptors after shedding some pounds this offseason. Lowry is averaging a career-high 21 points to go with 6.5 assists, 5.0 rebounds and 2.1 steals per game. He’s also shooting a career-high 39 percent from the 3-point line on seven attempts per game.
In 22 career games against the Wolves, he’s averaging 12.8 points, 5.9 assists and 4.1 rebounds per game.
Injuries:
Toronto: DeMarre Carroll (knee) is out.
Minnesota: Nikola Pekovic (right ankle), Nemanja Bjelica (right foot strain) and Kevin Garnett (right knee) are out.
Projected Starters:
Toronto: PG- Lowry, SG – DeRozan, SF – Johnson, PF – Scola, C – Valanciunas
Minnesota: PG- Rubio, SG- LaVine, SF- Wiggins, PF- Towns, C – Dieng
