Minnesota Timberwolves vs. Memphis Grizzlies: Odds, injuries, what to watch for

The Minnesota Timberwolves look to build on recent success as they take on the Memphis Grizzlies in the first game of a series of two at Target Center.

The Minnesota Timberwolves are coming off of a largely successful weekend, during which they saw Karl-Anthony Towns and Josh Okogie return from injury and split a pair of competitive games with the San Antonio Spurs.

The Wolves expect to have both Towns and Okogie available on Wednesday against a Memphis Grizzlies team sans Ja Morant, who continues to be out with a sprained ankle.

The Grizzlies defeated the Wolves twice in preseason play, for whatever that’s worth, and the Wolves struggled with the rebounding ability and interior toughness of Memphis.

This two-game series is important moving forward; it’s likely the two teams will play at least once in the still-to-be-released Second Half schedule, but each team will do what they can to avoid a sweep this week. Both Memphis and Minnesota are still targeting the No. 9 and 10 spots in the West and a berth in a play-in game, so the head-to-head tiebreaker could end up being important.

Additionally, there are some parallels between the two squads. While the Karl-Anthony Towns/D’Angelo Russell pairing has far more seasoning than much of the Grizzlies’ roster, both teams find themselves pushing into the outskirts of playoff contention as they try to assemble a core around their respective star.

Also, the Grizzlies employ long-time Wolves Gorgui Dieng and Tyus Jones and also have intriguing young players who had been rumored draft targets of the Wolves, from big man Brandon Clarke to rookie Desmond Bane.

Minnesota Timberwolves odds vs. Memphis Grizzlies

The Action Network lists the Wolves as -2.5 favorites at home against the Grizzlies. Surely, the absence of Ja Morant is a major factor. Memphis has played better lately and is on a two-game winning streak.

TV and streaming info for Minnesota Timberwolves vs. Memphis Grizzlies

• Television: Fox Sports North
• Radio: 830 WCCO
• Stream: Fubo.tv offers streaming options

What to watch for in Minnesota Timberwolves vs. Memphis Grizzlies

While this is absolutely a winnable game for the Wolves, make no mistake, it’s a dangerous matchup for Minnesota.

League-wide, Memphis sits No. 4 in defensive rating, No. 2 in steals per game, and No. 10 in total rebounding. They are an opportunistic defense that gets plenty of deflections and likes to get out in transition as often as possible.

This isn’t the Grit-n-Grind Grizzlies of several years ago; even with Morant out, De’Anthony Melton, Tyus Jones, and Dillion Brooks will be pushing the pace when possible. But they can also play in the half-court, relying on more traditional bigs Jonas Valančiūnas and Dieng.

The Wolves must focus on defensive rebounding and getting back in transition, which have been their two biggest issues thus far in their 3-7 start.

Yes, Minnesota’s offense has struggled, but many of those issues are directly tied to Towns’ absence in seven of the 10 games played thus far. The Wolves remain No. 30 in the league in net rating, and a two-game series against the 4-6 Grizzlies is a solid opportunity to begin improving that number.

Injury report for Minnesota Timberwolves vs. Memphis Grizzlies

This is the first time this season that an injury report is even more unsightly for an opponent than it is for the Wolves.

The Wolves are listing both Okogie and Towns as questionable ahead of the game, although head coach Ryan Saunders stated on Tuesday that he expected both of them to play as long as things went well during Wednesday shootaround.

The Grizzlies will be missing both Morant and rookie Killian Tillie. Jaren Jackson Jr. and Jontay Porter have yet to appear in a game and remain out, and guard John Konchar is listed as day-to-day with an ankle injury

Be sure to head back to Dunking With Wolves later Wednesday evening for reaction and notes from the game.