Minnesota faces Boston, looks to end home skid
By The Associated PressMay 14, 2021 GMT
Boston Celtics (35-35, seventh in the Eastern Conference) vs. Minnesota Timberwolves (22-48, 13th in the Western Conference)
Minneapolis; Saturday, 2 p.m. EDT
BOTTOM LINE: Minnesota plays Boston looking to end its three-game home losing streak.
The Timberwolves are 12-22 in home games. Minnesota ranks sixth in the Western Conference with 48.9 points per game in the paint led by Karl-Anthony Towns averaging 10.6.
The Celtics have gone 14-20 away from home. Boston is sixth in the Eastern Conference giving up just 111.4 points while holding opponents to 46.6% shooting.
The teams meet for the second time this season. The Celtics won 145-136 in the last matchup on April 9. Jayson Tatum led Boston with 53 points, and Towns led Minnesota with 30 points.
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The Timberwolves cruised to a 119-100 win over the Pistons in Detroit on Tuesday. They ve won their last two games by a combined 51 points and are climbing up the standings at a time when they have no hope for the playoffs, and could potentially improve their draft odds with a loss.
Those draft odds matter because if they don t land a Top 3 pick, the selection goes to the Golden State Warriors the Wolves included the draft pick when they traded Andrew Wiggins for D Angelo Russell.
But what matters more? Winning now or losing to have a better shot at winning in the future?
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DETROIT For the last several weeks, the Timberwolves have eschewed maximizing their lottery odds in the name of seeing what they have going into next year.
The Wolves wanted to win as much as possible, and they ve sacrificed about 12.5% in odds of retaining a top three pick or shipping it to Golden State in order to go 6-3 over their last nine games.
Their last two wins came against fellow bottom feeders Orlando and Detroit, who were only too happy to accept the lopsided losses and let the Wolves pass them. The Wolves are on another wavelength.
They are now home for the last three games, all against teams who will be participating in the postseason. Beating Orlando and Detroit was nice. But coming with a few wins in three games against Dallas, Denver and Boston would send the Wolves out on a high.
Wolves thump Pistons, continue to value winning over draft positioning The Wolves said they would try to win and they did that decisively. May 11, 2021 10:23pm Text size Copy shortlink:
DETROIT - Toward the end of his media session Tuesday, Karl-Anthony Towns was again stumping for Anthony Edwards to be the rookie of the year. As Towns was talking, Edwards wandered over and made sure to point out to Towns his plus-minus for the night: plus-30. Plus 30? Popeyes on me then . We ll get you some of them fries, Towns said to Edwards, who has professed his love for postgame chicken and fries multiple times.
Game Preview #69: Wolves at Pistons
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Photo by Douglas P. DeFelice/Getty Images
Two teams who have the 4th worst records in the NBA face off tonight in Detroit, MI. We got ourselves a
NICE one tonight with lotto implications at stake!
Game Info
When: 6:00 pm CT
TV: Bally Sports North PLUS
Radio: 830 WCCO AM Radio
What To Watch For
Coach Finch’s
Rubio-Russell starting backcourt is now 1-1 after their Florida road trip. The peanut gallery has long been skeptical of that pairing and many anticipate Ricky Rubio not even being on the team next year (
Not me though). To silence these murmurs, developing a strong chemistry between the 2 guards will surely do the trick.