Anthony Edwards and the Timberwolves look to cap off a four-game homestand with a win over Jaden Ivey and a Pistons squad currently riding a seven-game losing streak.
Anthony Edwards and the Minnesota Timberwolves will close out a four-game homestand on Wednesday night as they welcome Jaden Ivey, old friend Troy Brown Jr., and the Detroit Pistons to Target Center for the second and final matchup of the season between these two squads.
Detroit enters play on Wednesday riding a seven-game losing streak, tied for the second-longest in the NBA. The Toronto Raptors, who the Wolves will welcome to Downtown Minneapolis next Wednesday, hold the longest streak (11 games). Only the Charlotte Hornets (-18.1 NET) have played worse over the last two weeks than the Pistons (-15.8 NET), according to Cleaning the Glass.
The Pistons also look quite different than when these teams first played back in January.
Karl-Anthony Towns remains out for Minnesota. Ex-Piston Monte Morris is now a Wolf. Ex-Wolf Troy Brown Jr. is now a Piston. Killian Hayes got cut. Detroit traded Bojan Bogdanović and Alec Burks to the New York Knicks for Evan Fournier, Quentin Grimes, Malachi Flynn and Ryan Arcidiacono (who was subsequently waived). They also sent Kevin Knox, the draft rights to Gabriele Procida and a second-round pick to the Utah Jazz for Simone Fontecchio, and later bought out ex-Timberwolf Shake Milton, Joe Harris, Danilo Gallinari and Danuel House (who they acquired in a cap saving move with the Philadelphia 76ers). And finally, the Pistons brought in forwards Taj Gibson and Chimezie Metu.
And, of course, T.J. Warren will now stick around with the Wolves for the rest of the season, according to a report on Tuesday morning from Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic.
Entering play on Tuesday, Minnesota is 1.5 game back of the Denver Nuggets for the No. 1 seed and 0.5 games back of the Oklahoma City Thunder for the No. 2 seed. According to Tankathon, OKC has the fifth-hardest schedule remaining (.542 SOS), while Denver has the 11th-easiest (.482). Minnesota has the ninth-easiest schedule left (.477), so the most generous of the three teams still vying for the top spot in the Western Conference. Keep in mind that Denver and Minnesota still play twice — both in Denver.
Game Info
- Who: Minnesota Timberwolves (49-22) vs. Detroit Pistons (12-60)
- When: Wednesday, March 27 at 7:00 PM CT
- Where: Target Center — Minneapolis, MN
- TV: Bally Sports North
- Radio: Wolves App, iHeart Radio, KFAN 100.3 FM
- Line: Wolves -15.5 | Total: 216 (courtesy of DraftKings Sportsbook)
Injury Report
Updated as of Wednesday, March 27 at 6:35 PM CT
Minnesota
AVAILABLE:
- Anthony Edwards (left middle finger dislocation/sprain)
- Rudy Gobert (left rib sprain)
OUT:
- Jaylen Clark (right achilles tendon rupture rehab)
- Daishen Nix (two-way contract)
- Karl-Anthony Towns (left meniscus tear)
Detroit
AVAILABLE:
- Cade Cunningham (left knee injury management)
- Jalen Duren (low back spasms)
- Marcus Sasser (upper respiratory illness)
OUT:
- Simone Fontecchio (left great toe contusion)
- Taj Gibson (left hamstring strain)
- Quentin Grimes (right knee contusion)
- Jaden Ivey (left knee soreness)
- Isaiah Stewart (right hamstring strain)
- Ausar Thompson (blood clots)
- Stanley Umude (right ankle fracture)
What to Watch For
Containing Jaden Ivey and Marcus Sasser
With Cade Cunningham (left knee injury management) and Simone Fontecchio (left great toe contusion) potentially both sidelined once again, Detroit’s projected starting backcourt of Jaden Ivey and Marcus Sasser will be atop the Pistons’ list of perimeter scoring threats.
While Ivey is on another planet in terms of his explosiveness from a standstill off the bounce, both guards have great speed and burst with the ball, so slowing them down before they are able to get two feet in the paint and kick the ball out to perimeter options Troy Brown Jr. and Tosan Evbuomwan will be imperative.
And just because Ivey (14.4 PPG on 38.1/22.6/77.8 shooting splits) and Sasser (8.9 PPG on 38.6/35.0/91.7 shooting splits) aren’t exactly setting the world on fire over their last 10 outings doesn’t mean they aren’t dangerous.
Ivey destroyed the Timberwolves’ perimeter defense in the first meeting — scoring an efficient 32 points on 13/22 shooting (4/6 from 3), and added six assists with just two turnovers in a competitive 124-117 loss — and Sasser is coming off a 24-point night in a 124-99 loss to the Knicks. Lightning quick guards have given Minnesota problems all season long and Ivey was a great example of that.
Expect the Wolves to bring gap help from Edwards and Reid — a key part of their game plan in the 104-91 win over Darius Garland and the Cleveland Cavaliers last weekend — to force the ball out of the guards’ hands and force the Pistons’ wings to beat them from beyond the arc or by attacking close-outs.
But even if Jaden McDaniels and Nickeil Alexander-Walker struggle to keep the Pistons guards in front of them, Timberwolves fans shouldn’t be too worried. Detroit has an abysmal 100.9 offensive rating (29th in the league) and aren’t hitting the offensive glass well (24.3% OREB% is 26th) during their seven-game losing streak.
Veterans Setting the Tone
Perhaps the area in which the Wolves’ veterans have shown up most is against inferior competition.
Minnesota struggled mightily to win games they were supposed to win last season, but are much improved in 2023-24 with a 21-5 record against teams under .500, including a 21-3 record over their last 24 (their first two losses were to sub-.500 teams in the Raptors and Atlanta Hawks). The other three losses were in the Towns 62-point game vs. Charlotte, and brutal second-half collapses to the San Antonio Spurs and Chicago Bulls — all games they were right there in.
Since then, the Wolves have taken care of business against the Blazers three times (wins of 12, 37 and five), Brooklyn Nets (won by 15), Spurs (won by nine), Memphis Grizzlies (won by nine), Utah Jazz twice (wins by nine and 10), and hospital Cavaliers (won by 13).
Outside of the second Jazz win, Gobert and Mike Conley have their fingerprints all over those games and have done a terrific job of setting a professional tone that ensures their teammates are locked in, respecting the game, and playing winning basketball. Conley has gotten the offense into sets early in the shot clock and helped infuse ball movement and quick decision-making into the offense, while Gobert has instilled an elevated effort level in the group while quarterbacking the defense on the back end.
The Timberwolves reeked of arrogance in these games last year as a result of expecting to win the game just by showing up and not taking opponents seriously. Clearly perturbed by their 14-15 record against teams below .500 last season after having a whole summer and fall to think about it, the Wolves’ veteran leadership have corrected that this season.
Edwards deserves his credit as well, as he has played fantastic basketball in the aforementioned nine-game winning streak against sub-.500 teams or those severely weakened by injuries. The two-time All-Star has led the Wolves in scoring in seven of those nine contests, scoring at least 30 points in six of those seven games. He has clearly bought in to respecting opponents on every night, another area in which the veteran influence of the locker room and coaching staff has made an impact on the 22-year-old star.
Minnesota will need to replicate that effort early in the game to avoid a slip-up before another huge matchup with the Nuggets in Denver on Friday night.
3-Point Volume
With Jalen Duren and James Wiseman set to play on Wednesday night, getting to and scoring at the rim likely won’t be as easy of a task as generating open 3-point shots may be. Detroit may have the 28th-ranked defense in the league this season, but they are 19th in opponent shot attempt rate at the rim (33.9% of all field goal attempts) and are healthier in the frontcourt than they are on the perimeter.
Minnesota, meanwhile, has been lights out in terms of creating 3-point shots and knocking them down. The Wolves made a season-high-tying 21 3s in their 114-110 win over the Golden State Warriors on Sunday. As I wrote in the recap:
Before the injury to Towns, the team got up 32.1 triples per game (sixth-fewest in the NBA). In the last five games, now that they’ve honed their heavy pick-and-roll identity in KAT’s absence, they are up to 36.8 per contest, good for 10th-most in the NBA.
Better yet, they are shooting a whopping 44.6% over the last five outings, second in the NBA behind the Milwaukee Bucks.
The Timberwolves have taken 40 or more 3-pointers in a game nine times this season, but four of them have come since Towns went down, and Minnesota is 3-1 in those contests, largely as a result of knocking down 21, 16, 19 and 16 shots from deep in those four games, respectively.
Minnesota’s spacing has been much better, and spreading out an undermanned Detroit defense and forcing them to fly around the perimeter close-out to multiple shooters, and not give up clean driving lanes should be the primary focus offensively as the Timberwolves continue to hone their evolving offensive identity. The Wolves may be shooting more 3s, but it doesn’t feel like they are chucking them up for the sake of trying to balance the opposite side of the equation with Towns now out of the lineup.
Head Coach Chris Finch’s group is sharing the ball, playing well off the catch, getting into the paint, making good reads from there, and — most importantly — not turning the ball over. The Timberwolves are fifth in the league in turnover rate (11.5%) since KAT went down — a massive improvement from the NBA’s seventh-worst turnover rate (14.8%) in the 62 games before that.
Wednesday night’s contest will be another opportunity for the Wolves to build on their growing 3-point attempt rate, steadily improving spacing, and executing in the half-court without turning it over.