Howlin' T-Wolf

Timberwolves: 13-44

Heat: 29-28

The Wolves are storming South Beach, Florida tonight to take on a Wade-less Heat team. Dwayne Wade has sat two games thus far while nursing a strained left calf. Well, this gives the Wolves a good opportunity to start this road trip out right and stop this current six game funk. The Heat still have plenty of talent in the absence of Wade, so the Wolves will still need to fight hard in order to boost their horrocious road record of 4-24. The keys for tonight will be the play of our backcourt against theirs. Flynn had a nice game Sunday but needs to show some consistency, especially in this second half of the season. It’ll be fun to watch Darko Milicic get out there tonight and see what he has to offer in act 2. Again, I’m expecting around only 15 minutes for him but lets see if he can make them count for something. I really want to see if Jefferson can be the Jefferson of old tonight. His play has looked sloppy the past few games and the team struggles with him on the floor. We need to see if he can be our horse that we can ride to the finish line, like we used to do last season. Here are tonight’s matchups:

Match-ups:

Point Guard:

Jonny Flynn vs. Carlos Arroyo

Arroyo has played well starting over Chalmers but may struggle with Flynn tonight. Flynn is both quicker and stronger than Arroyo. Arroyo is a good pass-first point guard who play good defense, but Flynn’s skill set may out match him. We need to see consistency out of Flynn tonight. He played great on Sunday, so I want to see him string together a couple great games. This matchup also has a lot to do with depth — Chalmers for the Heat, Sessions for the Wolves — so, whichever bench plays well may have the advantage.

Advantage: Minnesota

Shooting Guard:

Corey Brewer vs. Quentin Richardson

The former T-Wolf of only a few days will have some trouble with Brewer tonight. Brewer has found his stroke and hits the open freebies he gets from the wing. His play has been solid and his defense has looked good as well.

Advantage: Minnesota

Small Forward:

Ryan Gomes vs. Dorrell Wright

Wright is a bigger 3 who can play a stretch 4, just like Gomes, in a smaller set. He’s not much of a scorer but will demand a little more attention around the basket than what Gomes probably likes to deal with. Gomes’ shot has been off the past few games and, just like Flynn, he needs to find some consistency. I’m giving the Wolves the advantage here though because Damien Wilkins played a terrific game Sunday putting up 18 points and is a lot better than Miami’s reserve, James Jones.

Advantage: Minnesota

Power Forward:

Al Jefferson vs. Michael Beasley

I am a huge Beasley fan, so its hard to watch him struggle to be who he is supposed to become. He was supposed to be a stud for the Heat but instead is just a good power forward on a good team. Sad. Anyways, as I said earlier, we will need to find out if the Wolves can ride Jefferson to the end of the game like we’ve done in the past. He hasn’t been that guy for us and that’s what might need to happen if we want to get out of this losing funk. Kevin Love’s play off the bench has been stupendous and he is what gives the Wolves the advantage here.

Advantage: Minnesota

Center:

Ryan Hollins vs. Jermaine O’Neal

Every Wolves fan is excited to see what Darko will do for his follow up act tonight. Well keep in mind that Hollins actually played a good game as well on Sunday by putting up eight points of his own, so don’t just count him out. But either way, O’Neal is a great player in this league and the Heat have depth in Udonis Haslem and Joel Anthony to help O’Neal out. O’Neal will probably have a good game tonight unless Darko can show some intimidation under the hoop but even then O’Neal will probably go right around him to the rim.

Advantage: Miami