Howlin' T-Wolf

Timberwolves: 14-47

Mavericks: 40-21

The last time these two teams met, believe it or not, the Wolves took one away from the Mavs on Feb. 5 in Dallas. With a completely new and revamped looking Mavs squad, the Wolves could be in for quite the game and the outlook could be different than the last game’s as well. The Wolves ended the month of February with a rough going against the Portland Trailblazers and will be looking to start March with a fresh new start. While the Wolves struggled in February, the fresh faces of the Mavs have helped them win eight straight games, even while missing Caron Butler for a few games due to an illness to a medication. He will be back tonight, as he played against Charlotte on Monday, but the Mavs will be missing Erick Dampier, whom is recovering from surgery, but Brendan Haywood has stepped in nicely since the trade with the Washington Wizards, averaging 10.8 points and almost 10 rebounds a game with his new squad. The Wolves don’t have much to brag about statistically wise but are coming off a three day break which may help them get their mind-sets right before tonight’s game. In order to be successful, the Wolves will need to slow down the production of Jason Kidd, give Jonny Flynn and Corey Brewer open looks from outside and feed the ball underneath to Love and Darko. The Wolves will miss Al Jefferson’s presence under the hoop tonight, as he will begin his 2-game suspension starting tonight as penalty for his DUI offense.

Match-ups:

Point Guard:

Jonny Flynn vs. Jason Kidd

Jason Kidd posted one of the season’s best performances on Saturday night versus the Atlanta Hawks by posting 19 points, 17 assists and 16 rebounds. Could Jonny Flynn ever post those kind of numbers. Simple answer, “Hell-to-the-No!” Sure, Kidd has struggled the two games after that but he can carve our porous defense easily like he’s cutting swiss cheese with a Cutco knife, all night long.

Advantage: Dallas

Shooting Guard:

Corey Brewer vs. Caron Butler

Brewer has slowed  down considerably as of late but his streak of consecutive games with a three-pointer still lives on. Brewer will need to do more tonight if he plans on matching the numbers of his counterpart, Butler. Butler put up 22 against the Bobcats, a very good defensive squad, on Monday and has played well with Dallas thus far. Butler may just prove to be too explosive on the offensive end for Brewer to handle tonight.

Advantage: Dallas

Small Forward:

Ryan Gomes vs. Shawn Marion

Shawn Marion is not what he used to be but he still is a “Wolf-Killer” and probably always will be. Gomes lacks the defensive chops to stop Marion. He might be able to hang with him offensively, as he’s slowly improved and climbed his way out of a February funk. But even then, I think Marion will still be too much for Gomes, similar to the situation of Brewer-Butler.

Advantage: Dallas

Power Forward:

Kevin Love vs. Dirk Nowitzki

There is a large possibility that Darko Milicic will start here, as coach Rambis hinted in yesterday’s practice, and switch from power forward to center throughout the game. Even if Darko starts, Love should get the majority of minutes and that should make this an intriguing match-up for the night. Both players have similar types of game-style but Dirk has the size and is more explosive, especially down the stretch, compared to Love. If Jefferson were playing and Love were coming off the bench like usual, the Wolves may actually have the advantage here tonight, but without the big fella, forget about it.

Advantage: Dallas

Center:

Ryan Hollins vs. Brendan Haywood

More than likely, Haywood will throw Hollins around like a rag-doll tonight, and it won’t be pretty. It’ll kind of be like that older brother who takes his sister’s dolls, then breaks all of their limbs off just because he can. Haywood will have less success with “breaking off” Darko’s limbs but he still will put up good numbers no matter who defends him.

Advantage: Dallas