Minnesota Timberwolves game preview: Nov. 1 vs New Orleans Pelicans

MINNEAPOLIS, MN - APRIL 13: James Ennis (Photo by Adam Bettcher/Getty Images)
MINNEAPOLIS, MN - APRIL 13: James Ennis (Photo by Adam Bettcher/Getty Images) /
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MINNEAPOLIS, MN – OCTOBER 27: Karl-Anthony Towns #32 of the Minnesota Timberwolves celebrates making a basket during the game against the Oklahoma City Thunder on October 27, 2017 at the Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images)
MINNEAPOLIS, MN – OCTOBER 27: Karl-Anthony Towns #32 of the Minnesota Timberwolves celebrates making a basket during the game against the Oklahoma City Thunder on October 27, 2017 at the Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images) /

Player to watch: Karl-Anthony Towns

For this game, we will have the ability to watch arguably the two best centers in the game. It’s a close battle and an ongoing debate as to who is a better center, but to this point, the nod is still given to Cousins.

Towns will have a lot to prove to show that he is truly the best center. It will be important for him to get things going offensively. After a rather slow start from the big man, he has seemingly found his groove. Grabbing over 10 rebounds a game in every game but one against the Indiana Pacers. But, offensively he simply can’t be stopped – scoring 20 plus in every game and even going over 30 points.

But, offensively isn’t going to be the issue. There is no denying that Towns has faced a lot of criticism concerning his play on defense. In his game against the Oklahoma City Thunder, he definitely heard those critiques and showed up big – coming away with four blocks.

If he thought that Steven Adams was going to be a tough opponent to face, then he will have an even bigger task against Cousins. Just look at these stats, these are numbers that only a few players can even manage to do.

2017-18 Regular Season Table
Rk G Date Age Tm Opp GS MP FG FGA FG% 3P 3PA 3P% FT FTA FT% ORB DRB TRB AST STL BLK TOV PF PTS GmSc
1 1 2017-10-18 27-066 NOP @ MEM L (-12) 1 38:24 9 21 .429 3 9 .333 7 8 .875 2 8 10 2 0 7 4 4 28 21.0
2 2 2017-10-20 27-068 NOP GSW L (-8) 1 32:36 11 23 .478 3 8 .375 10 13 .769 4 10 14 5 3 1 7 5 35 26.1
3 3 2017-10-22 27-070 NOP @ LAL W (+7) 1 35:33 8 17 .471 1 6 .167 5 8 .625 1 10 11 8 0 2 6 5 22 14.8
4 4 2017-10-24 27-072 NOP @ POR L (-10) 1 38:57 12 23 .522 3 10 .300 12 17 .706 2 11 13 3 1 3 8 4 39 26.0
5 5 2017-10-26 27-074 NOP @ SAC W (+8) 1 43:46 14 25 .560 3 5 .600 10 12 .833 8 15 23 6 1 1 4 5 41 38.3
6 6 2017-10-28 27-076 NOP CLE W (+22) 1 32:29 11 20 .550 2 6 .333 5 5 1.000 1 11 12 10 3 0 1 2 29 31.6

Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 10/29/2017.

This match-up will be the key for Towns, and it might just get the Wolves a win. There is obviously Davis to contain, but that isn’t as big of a match-up as the two best centers in the NBA.