A day after one of the craziest games in franchise history, the Timberwolves will step onto their home floor tonight to take on the Charlotte Hornets.
Minnesota players were allowed to sleep in this morning and didn’t partake in a morning shoot around after defeating the Atlanta Hawks on the road, 117-107. To give you an idea of how great of a feat winning in Atlanta was, the last time the Wolves won in Atlanta was November 20, 2002. Andrew Wiggins, Zach LaVine and Karl-Anthony Towns were just seven years old.
Charlotte arrived on Monday and practiced at the Target Center early Tuesday morning. After getting off to a rather slow start to the season, the Hornets beat the Chicago Bulls and Dallas Mavericks to bring them to a 2-4 record coming into tonight’s matchup.
One familiar face for Wolves’ fan is playing very well for Charlotte in his 12th year in the league. Al Jefferson is averaging 15.8 points to go along with eight rebounds per game. One reason for his solid start may be the physical shape the wily veteran is in. After losing 33 pounds in the offseason, the 15th overall pick in the 2004 NBA Draft is feeling good and performing well.
“He’s coming off two really good games,” head coach Steve Clifford said. “He played well in San Antonio and he was terrific in Dallas. Al’s done a great job. We’re trying to post him more out of flow, like playing ball, so that the defense can’t be so loaded up to him. He’s really done a good job of playing more out of pick and rolls, dribble handoffs and rolling into the paint or into the post.”
Thirty-three pounds is a lot of weight to lose in just four months, but according to Jefferson, it’s all about maintaining a strict regimen.
“One thing about losing weight is just doing the right things and eating the right things,” the Mississippi native said. “Cutting out the things that we all love, and that’s what I did. When the season was over last year I went like three weeks where I just ate all of the things I wanted to eat because I knew I could cut it off. So I gained a little more weight after the season and then I lost it all.”
After losing their last game by 20 points to the San Antonio Spurs, the Hornets are looking to extend the Wolves’ home losing streak to three games.
“We have to bring our A-game,” Jefferson said. “This team isn’t like the Timberwolves in the past. These boys are playing well. They’re playing together. That’s one thing about a young team that’s so scary because one thing about them is that they’re going to play hard. They’re going to play hard every night.”
One reason the Timberwolves are playing so well is because of their defense. Currently a top-five defense in the league, Minnesota’s rookie sensation is already having a major impact on every game.
“He’s an impressive player,” Clifford said of Towns. “If you watch him as a young player you can certainly see not only his physical tools but really his toughness and competitiveness. Like last night I thought he was really animated when he made a great play late game on the block from (Jeff) Teague from behind and you can just see how much he’s into it and how much he puts into it.”
Towns recorded his fourth double-double in six games last night posting 17 points and 12 rebounds. In getting off to such a hot start, the Kentucky big man became the youngest player in NBA history to record four double-doubles within a player’s first six career games.
“His footwork, his skill level, I mean he’s a 6’10, 6’11, but he puts that ball on the floor like a guard and that’s what is messing it up for guys like me,” Jefferson said. “These big men are now coming in with all types of skills and stuff, so you can tell he has a lot of upside. A very talented player and I can see why he went number one.”
Another reason why the Wolves have gotten off to such a great start is due to the team’s veteran presence. Minnesota has benefited from having players with priceless experience to mentor their young guns.
“I already had a lot of respect for him but for him to come back and finish his career where he started that was really cool,” Jefferson said. “Plus to help the young guys, you can tell his imprint already in the beginning of the season, it’s a totally different mindset. They’re young, but you can just tell him and Tayshaun Prince, the older guys, are really leaving their mark.”
Well, sort of. The Charlotte Hornets coach has been impressed with his big men this year and that group includes Zeller. The fourth overall pick in the 2013 NBA Draft is averaging six points and five boards in 21 minutes of playing time.
“Cody doesn’t care about shots, but he creates the action with his movement and screening,” Clifford said. “I think in a lot of ways it’s like what Kevin Garnett has always done. I mean Garnett, obviously a phenomenal scorer, but the beauty of him, even when he was younger was, he got shots for other people with screening. And I think that’s what Cody does.”
