After vaulting back to the top of the Western Conference standings, the Minnesota Timberwolves are hoping to avoid an embarrassing loss against the NBA-worst Detroit Pistons tonight at Little Caesars Arena.
Minnesota enters the matchup with a 28-11 record following a huge win over the streaking Los Angeles Clippers this past weekend. As for the Pistons, they improved to 4-36 by taking down the Washington Wizards on Monday.
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Chris Finch’s team should be able to pick up a relatively comfortable win over the Pistons but it remains important to get off to a quality start and build upon a first-half lead in the latter part of the game to steer clear of a tight finish.
Timberwolves star Anthony Edwards is coming off an impressive outing that included a game-high 33 points and nine rebounds to help outlast the Clippers. However, Edwards is questionable to play in Detroit with left knee tendonitis.
Despite suffering a single-season record 28 straight losses, the Pistons have been more competitive since veteran forward Bojan Bogdanovic returned from a calf injury in early December. Bogdanovic is averaging 21.0 points on 41.4 percent shooting from 3-point range at home this year and will present a legitimate challenge for Minnesota’s defense alongside Detroit center Jalen Duren and guard Jaden Ivey.
The Timberwolves won five games in a row against the Pistons before losing both matchups last season. To snap the losing streak, Minnesota will continue to lean on the frontcourt trio of Karl-Anthony Towns, Rudy Gobert, and Jaden McDaniels to protect the paint and score easy buckets.
Stay tuned for post-game coverage as the Timberwolves look to take down the Pistons in Detroit to widen the gap from the second-place Oklahoma City Thunder.