The only thing separating the Minnesota Timberwolves from the New Jersey Nets is the T-Wolves’ lone, buzzer beater, victory on opening night against … you guessed it, the New Jersey Nets. Since October 28th the Wolves have dropped 13 straight including a 146-105 loss to the Golden State Warriors.
Let's take a look at the particulars …
Records:
Denver: 10-4
Minnesota: 1-13 (key win: vs. New Jersey)
Injuries:
Denver: Chris Andersen is listed as day-to-day with his right knee tendinitis.
Minnesota: Kevin Love (broken left hand) is out.
Opposition's Take: Canis Hoopus
With Kevin Love on the shelf the T-Wolves are a much thinner team. Al Jefferson, Ryan Hollins and Oleksiy Pecherov (7′ 234 lbs) hold down the big man rotation, but the Nuggets should be able to match the interior play and even have some advantages if they can get Jefferson into foul trouble. Hollins is an athletic big that is probably best remembered by Nuggets fans for his monster dunk and intense celebration in the playoffs (while he was a member of the Mavericks) when his team was down by roughly 142 points. Pecherov has the perfect name to be a future Denver Stiffs Hall-of-Famer and the haircut to go along with it, but on paper he actually looks pretty useful averaging 8.2 points and 4.6 rebounds in 16.8 minutes per game.
I’m interested to see how high scoring rookie Jonny Flynn stacks up against Denver’s Law-son, how Corey Brewer is maturing and if Ramon Sessions is truly a good signing or a desperation move made by a team who blew the Ricky Rubio draft pick (for now anyway).
I suppose we should be thanking the T-Wolves more than anything … after all they did gift wrap Ty Lawson for us on draft night.
And speaking of gift-wrapped … the Blazers have already earned three wins against the Wolves by the following scores: 116-93, 107-84 and 106-78. So, would it be too much of a favor to hand the Nuggets an easy game tonight as well Minnesota?
The Nuggets would be very Thankful during this holiday season.
ntimmons73@yahoo.com
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Photo courtesy of: AP Photos David Zalubowski
