Minnesota Timberwolves at Cleveland Cavaliers: Odds, injuries, what to watch for

After winning for the first time in more than a week on Sunday evening, the Minnesota Timberwolves have to turn around and play the same Cleveland Cavaliers team they just defeated, except this time, the game is on the road.

Of course, the last time the Wolves won also came on the second night of a back-to-back in a victory over the New Orleans Pelicans, so perhaps there’s something to having “young legs” and a number of fairly fresh new members of the rotation given the injuries to a few more established players.

Minnesota Timberwolves at Cleveland Cavaliers: Odds, injuries, what to watch

Minnesota is now 3-12 without Karl-Anthony Towns in the lineup and will be missing their All-Star big man once again on Monday. Jarrett Culver (sprained ankle) is out, and Naz Reid is questionable after not playing the last two games with a wrist injury. Juancho Hernangomez was upgraded to questionable and has a chance to play for the first time in over two weeks.

The Wolves beat the Cavs on Sunday despite being dominated on the glass by a whopping 55-34 margin. If Minnesota is beat-up that badly on the boards again, don’t expect them to be able to pull out another win.

Reid’s availability is key for Monday’s game; Andre Drummond and Jarrett Allen are a challenge for any team, and especially one with Ed Davis as the only healthy center.

Minnesota Timberwolves odds at Cleveland Cavaliers

Somewhat surprisingly, The Action Network still lists the Wolves as five-point underdogs despite a five-point win only 24 hours earlier. The Cavs’ record stands at 9-11 while the Wolves are 5-14, although Cleveland is 6-4 on their home floor.

TV and streaming info for Minnesota Timberwolves at Cleveland Cavaliers

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

What to watch for in Minnesota Timberwolves at Cleveland Cavaliers

Despite the Cavs’ dominance over the Wolves in the rebounding column on Sunday, Cleveland is actually a bottom-five defensive rebounding team, just like Minnesota. Each squad is solid on the offensive glass, although the Wolves will be at a distinct disadvantage sans Towns.

On Sunday, Collin Sexton scored 12 of his 16 points in the first half as he largely got wherever he wanted on the floor with Josh Okogie attempting to shadow him. The Wolves defended much better in the second half, but the recipe for the Cavs to win is fairly simple.

Minnesota is going to allow Sexton to get mid-range jumpers and floaters off within their drop pick-and-roll coverage. Without Towns (and potentially Reid), the Wolves don’t have the right combination of length and mobility in their frontcourt; Jarred Vanderbilt doesn’t have the size to truly limit Drummond, and Davis isn’t quite mobile enough to defend in the way the Wolves ask him to in the pick-and-roll game.

Still, the Cavs aren’t were just 4-of-16 on 3-point attempts and are No. 29 in the league in long-range attempts per game and No. 20 in percentage from deep. If the Wolves get another combined 14 made 3-pointers from starters Malik Beasley, D’Angelo Russell, and Anthony Edwards, that may be too much for the Cavs to make up.

Don’t forget that the Cavs are a top-10 defensive team in the league by most measures, however. The Wolves managed to get 109 points on Sunday because they played what was probably their most impressive Towns-less offensive game to this point in the season.

Minnesota will need to duplicate that performance if they want to keep the positive vibes rolling.

Injury report for Minnesota Timberwolves at Cleveland Cavaliers

The injury report is a bit muddy, so let’s take this straight from the Timberwolves public relations team.

The Cavaliers are still relatively healthy, although Kevin Love and Matthew Dellavedova both remain out for Monday’s game.

Check back after the game for postgame grades. Here’s to two in a row!