Houston Rockets (12-8) vs Minnesota Timberwolves (9-11)

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Last game: Minnesota: L, 106-101 vs Los Angeles Lakers, Houston: W, 97-84 vs New York

I’d say Minnesota started off cold against the Lakers yesterday, but that would be severely underselling the point. LA ran out to an 18 point lead in the third quarter before Rubio’s heroics brought the game back from the brink of a blowout. The Wolves managed to tie it halfway through the fourth, but Pau Gasol’s size and Kobe Bryant’s clutch shooting doomed Minnesota.

The Rockets continued to roll on Saturday, dropping the free-falling Knicks 97-84. Houston’s bench scored an astounding 61 points, while holding New York to just 5-26 shooting from behind the arc. The Rockets are 9-1 in their last 10 games.

The Key Questions

#1. STOP WITH THE COLD STARTS!

Not really a question so much as a requirement to win basketball games. Look, I love a good comeback story. My favorite NBA game of all time was Game 4 of the 2008 Finals when Boston came back from being down 20+ in the third quarter to beat the Lakers in LA (suck on that, Minnesota Kobe fans). But Minnesota CANNOT continue to dig themselves out of their own graves. Teams just don’t win that way. Teams win by playing the way Minnesota did against San Antonio. Allowing a team as hot as Houston to get on a roll early could turn into a blowout quickly.

#2. Will the Wolves have enough energy for this game?

Minnesota got done playing the Lakers, hopped on a plane, flew to Houston, and now faces one of the only other teams in the league with a bench as deep as their own. Merely throwing more and more bodies out on the court won’t be enough against the Rockets. Real rotation players are starting to work their way back into the lineup for Minnesota (Webster, Beasley) and apparently Barea might be back tonight (he traveled with the team, but is doubtful to play). Here’s hoping they make a difference.

#3. Why can’t the Wolves get back to .500?!

Four times this season, Minnesota has been one game away from .500 and lost, once to Milwaukee (which barely counts, the Wolves were 0-1 at the time…but still), once to Memphis, once to Utah, and now to the Lakers. Beating the Rockets would mean that the Wolves could go for .500 against yet another excellent team (the Pacers) on Wednesday. Sigh.

The Key Matchups

Boy, you can really tell Kevin Love hates his new contract. 31-10, 18-16, and 33-13 over the past three games? Dude is clearly hurting. Four games ago against the Rockets, Love put up 39 points. A repeat would be fun.

Even though Rubio tallied 12 assists last week, Kyle Lowry won the matchup. Not only did Lowry score 16 points and dish out 10 assists, but Rubio turned the ball over several times at truly inopportune moments. Last night, the Wolves took excellent care of the ball. They will need to do that again tonight to beat Houston.

Kevin Martin’s long range shooting obliterated the Wolves in their last matchup. Wes Johnson will probably be able to make a difference guarding him. One would hope, anyway.

Derrick Williams has been shooting very efficiently lately, but you can always tell which of his shots are going to go in and which are going to clank badly off the side of the rim. If he has enough time to visibly think “I wonder if I should shoot this” (seriously, you can see it go through his head), the shot is going to be a uglier than sin. If he catches and shoots immediately, he will drain it.

The Outlook

Minnesota’s record on the second night of a back to back this season, as previously mentioned on this very blog, has been ugly, just 1-5. Also, this is a tough road game against a hot team that got some rest last night. Tonight could be rough.

Game starts at 7 on Fox Sports North

New Orleans Hornets (3-7) vs Minnesota Timberwolves (3-7)

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Last game: Minnesota: L, 111-100 vs Chicago, New Orleans: L, 95-85 vs Oklahoma City

On Tuesday, the Timberwolves trailed Chicago by 24 in the second quarter before roaring back to be down by 6 at half time. In the second half, they managed to tie the game at 70 before Luol Deng’s seemingly limitless supply of big shots put the Wolves away for good.

The Hornets lost by 10 to the Thunder on Wednesday which, considering both teams’ personnel, actually seems like an accomplishment. The Hornets have a solid win against the Nuggets this season, as well as a win against the Celtics that seems less and less solid as weeks go by. They also have bad losses to Phoenix and Sacramento.

The Key Questions

#1.  When are the Wolves finally going to get healthy?

JJ Barea and Michael Beasley will both miss the next two games. Barea’s ankle was badly sprained against Chicago stepping on someone sitting along the baseline. Beasley remains out with a sprained foot that he suffered against Cleveland. It’s tough for a young team to gel during a season like this, but it’s even tougher when you are constantly missing players from your rotation, and the Wolves have been missing players since the second game when Barea injured himself initially.

#2. Has New Orleans adjust to THEIR new lineup yet?

No, seriously, I don’t know the answer to this question. Without Chris Paul, I’ve only watched one Hornets game this year on League Pass, and it was as forgettable a game as I’ve witnessed. I really like Eric Gordon, but the rest of this team is honestly a bit depressing. How they got to this point with a 3-7 record is a little beyond me.

#3. Will Ricky Rubio start?

Let’s make one thing abundantly clear: Ricky Rubio starting isn’t going to make the Timberwolves into a playoff contender.

BUT. If Rubio started, the Wolves might get off to a better start early, meaning they wouldn’t have to dig themselves out of a hole, which would be big, according to Rubio himself: “We are starting, like, waiting for it. We have to punch first…if they punch first, like Chicago did, we are in trouble.”

Trying to imagine Rubio in a fist fight? It’s tough, isn’t it? But he’s not wrong. It would be good for Minnesota’s confidence to play with a bit of a lead instead of trying to fight back constantly.

On the other hand, wouldn’t you love to see Rubio’s ovation if his first start was in Minnesota?

The Key Matchups

According to NOLA.com, DaJuan Summers may be starting at small forward in place of Al Farouq Aminu for the Hornets. Summers is coming off an injury, but he has been very efficient so far this year. He will be matched up against Wes Johnson at the beginning of the game, but if Derrick Williams gets some minutes at the three, Summers might struggle to guard a bigger, more athletic player like Williams.

Chris Kaman has been playing well for New Orleans. Against OKC, he led the Hornets with 17 points. Darko’s length may bother Kaman a bit, but don’t be surprised if Kaman puts up big numbers again tonight.

Eric Gordon also may torch the Wolves tonight. Wayne Ellington has been playing better, but he has never been a defensive force, and Gordon is an incredibly dangerous scorer.

The Outlook

It’s hard to say. On the one hand, the Hornets present tricky matchups at two positions (shooting guard and center) that the Wolves are most vulnerable. On the other hand, the rest of that Hornets lineup is incredibly mediocre.

The good news is that the Wolves are probably well rested, after having two consecutive nights off. If Minnesota can avoid another cold shooting night, there’s no reason they can’t win this game.

According to a Sheridan Hoops report, the preliminary roster for Team USA includes Kevin Love. You can view the entire list, which includes lots of stars and a couple of surprises, here.

Love’s inclusion is hardly a surprise: he was a part of the 2008 team and his numbers so far this year have been stunning. But it’ll be a challenge to make the final roster, which will be cut from 19 to 12, and includes other power forward stars like LaMarcus Aldridge and Blake Griffin. And Lamar Odom, for some reason.

The good news for Love is that he could easily re-invent himself as a role player on a star-studded team like Team USA, grabbing a lot of rebounds and hitting the occasional three. He won’t have to be the focal point of an offense the way he is in Minnesota, he can just settle back and play a more specialized role.

It’s always cool to see a hometown player playing for his country, and it will definitely be fun to see Love playing with some of the best the NBA has to offer, if he makes the team. He certainly deserves this honor. Best of luck to him.

*Sigh*

After the Cleveland game, it was easy to rant and rage against a bad effort by the Wolves. It was disappointing to see them come out flat. It was frustrating to see them take a team lightly.

Unfortunately, there are no easy answers tonight, just one simple question: WHY wouldn’t the ball go in the hoop?

The defense was decent, but nothing earth shattering. The Raptors clogged the paint well, keeping the Wolves from getting easy layups in their half court offense and preventing Kevin Love from getting put backs. But whenever the Wolves wanted a good look at a three or a jump shot within 20 feet, they were able to find their spot. That damn ball just wouldn’t go in.

The main culprit tonight was Love. Love was 3-16 from the field, and an uncharacteristic 5-10 from the line. Again, fatigue didn’t really seem to be the issue, although it’s impossible to know for sure.

Lost among Love’s incredible stats so far this season is the fact that, despite his gaudy scoring numbers, Love’s footwork in the post actually leave quite a bit to be desired. He settles for threes too often, without really making an attempt to score down low. And while his three point numbers for the season are impressive, a power forward who claims to be the best power forward in the league, and who is about to make max money, should be able to do both.

Of course, I still believe that the Wolves will (and should) offer him the max immediately. And before I can make it sound like I’m criticizing him any more than I should for a night that is almost certainly going to be an aberration, let’s get to some bullet points.

• I’m still hesitant to utterly trust +/- stats, but today they are too glaring to ignore. The starters’ combined +/- was a little unbelievable: -95. The bench was +45. I mean…come on. It would be one thing if the bench was actually getting more minutes, but the starters played 126 combined minutes, and the bench 114. I still trust Adelman more than I trust myself or any other armchair analyst out there, but for most of the third quarter, the Wolves were getting destroyed with their starters in. Then Barea entered the game near the end of the quarter and almost single-handedly managed to get the Wolves from 12 points down to 4. I just don’t understand why he came out and Luke Ridnour came back in, unless limiting Barea’s minutes was a requirement today. If that was the case, fair enough.
• Anthony Randolph did that Anthony Randolph thing where he showed flashes of the star player he COULD be before becoming a non-factor again. For roughly 5 minutes of game time, he was the most dominant player on the court. He was hitting from the outside, drawing charges, and contributing the highlight of the game, for either team. Honestly, between Randolph and Beasley, the Wolves have more unfulfilled promise than entire draft classes.
• A related note: as pointed out by Toronto’s announcers, if Rubio wins the Rookie of the Year award, he will be the third player for the ’09 draft class to win it. Not a strong selling point for the classes of 2010 and 2011.
• Can someone explain to me why it enrages me so much whenever Andrea Bargnani scores? He’s 7’0 tall and he can consistently stroke the ball from three point range. He appears to have developed some post moves over the extended summer. You would think I would be used to him putting the ball in the basket by now. But somehow, I’ve never quite adjusted. Anyway.
• 18 turnovers. 33% from the field. 29% from the three point line. I know what you are thinking. “18 turnovers? Wow, somehow it felt like even more than that.” I agree, actually. Whenever the Wolves really needed something to happen, it felt like they were forcing the issue rather than trusting in their offense. We can take some heart from those numbers and knowing that the Wolves were still in this game as it wound down. But Toronto turned the ball over almost as much (16), and they actually managed to shoot worse from the three point line (16%). They did manage to shoot over 44% from the field though.
• Jose Calderon came out the victor in the Spanish point guard battle. Calderon had 14 points on 6-11 shooting to go with six assists. Rubio also had 6 assists but shot just 2-9 from the field and scored 10 points.
• The worst thing about losing this game, to my mind, is the fact that it wasted an opportunity to come out of the season’s only back to back to back over .500. To do so now, the Wolves would have to beat an excellent Chicago team tomorrow in Minneapolis. Chicago played a tough game last night as well against the Pacers. It wouldn’t be completely stunning to see the Wolves compete and lose by single digits. But more on that tomorrow.

In fact, more on everything tomorrow. Another night, another loss by the Wolves, who look increasingly bipolar on the court. It’s probably time we resigned ourselves to this sort of thing.

Wiser minds after the Cleveland game advised that we as bloggers not overreact to a tough loss. The Wolves are going to have good games and bad games. That’s the modus operandi with a team this young. And in the spirit of wisdom, I’m going to try to under-react to Sunday afternoon’s win over the hapless Wizards.

Every great thing that needs to be said about this game should be taken with a Javale McGee-sized grain of salt, because that Wizards team is really bad. The defense allowed the Wolves to get whatever they wanted, whenever they wanted it. The offense seemed utterly directionless when John Wall didn’t have a full head of steam. Indeed, John Wall’s slow start statistically is pretty damn explicable when you consider his teammates. Andre Blatche, Jordan Crawford, and Nick Young shot a combined 14-43 from the field. Wall’s most efficient teammate? Trevor Booker. When your best player for the game is Trevor Booker, chances are pretty high that you are not going to win.

The Wolves themselves didn’t play particularly good basketball. The three point shooting, though improved from Friday night, was still mediocre at 38%. Wes Johnson was 2-8 from the field and looked as uncomfortable at the 3 as he ever did at shooting guard. Luke Ridnour still can’t really direct an offense. The ball was turned over with brutal frequency. There was some very old Timberwolvian ugliness to go around.

Of course, that brings us around to the positives: Minnesota still won by 21. This feels significant: last year’s team was really reminiscent of Washington this year. There was one potential all star, a few rotation players, and a bad mix of inefficiency. So what made the difference?

The easy answer, of course, is to say that Rubio is the difference. After all, it was the Wizards who gave up the pick that became Rubio in exchange for Mike Miller and Randy Foye. Rubio is both the convenient answer and the explanation that feels most full circle.

But it goes deeper than just Rubio. Whether by luck or by planning much more than we ever gave him credit for while he was in the process, David Kahn has built a team around Rubio that is suited to his talents. There is Kevin Love, who plays like Wes Unseld 2.0 with his rebounding and gorgeous outlets. There is athleticism for Rubio’s lobs, in Derrick Williams and Anthony Randolph. There are shooters to stretch the floor on the break for Rubio, in Wes Johnson, Wayne Ellington, and Anthony Tolliver. Heck, there’s even a couple of other European players and a fellow Spanish speaker tossed in for fun.

Minnesota has been built as an assembly complimentary of parts. There are plenty of flaws within the machine, but as a whole, the team was built to work together. The Wizards have John Wall and the rest is just filler. That’s what made the difference today, and that’s why I feel comfortable saying that Minnesota has a much brighter immediate future than Washington.

Some bullet point thoughts:

• Ok seriously, by show of hands, when Kevin Love had 8 rebounds in what felt like the first 3 minutes, who else looked up the NBA’s single game rebounding records? I thought so. For those of you who didn’t, it was Wilt Chamberlain with 55. Bill Russell once had 34 in a half, and Nate Thurmond grabbed 18 in a quarter.
• Speaking of Love, I’ll admit: I was kind of hoping that the Wolves would offer him that max contract extension this evening. You know, after a 21 point win in which he went for 20 and 16. Everybody is in a better mood after a win.
• Today was the first game in which Derrick Williams looked truly comfortable shooting threes. Up until this point, he looked a little hesitant, a little overexcited, a little rookie-ish. But after his first attempt bounced high off the rim and through, he settled in and shot extremely well, scoring 4-7 from deep. His only field goal apart from his three pointers was equally impressive.
• Of course, Williams looked so comfortable in no small part because Rubio was feeding him beautifully. Any shooter will tell you that catching the ball exactly where you like to catch it makes all the difference in the world, and Williams appeared comfortable all day.
• Wayne Ellington finally broke out of his season long shooting slump today, going 5-8 from the field, which was good to see. The Wolves are really going to need him over the next two days. He also had the second most minutes with 34, behind (unsurprisingly) Love at 41.
• Say what you want about +/- stats, but they pretty much captured the feel of this game perfectly. Rubio and Williams are in? The lead balloons, as both players were at +29. Darko is in and fumbling everything that comes his way? The lead shrinks, as Darko is a -8. Wes Johnson, Luke Ridnour, and Anthony Randolph are feeling a bit inconsequential? Funny you should mention that: +2, +2, and -1.

Teams in the third game of a back to back to back so far this season are a surprising 6-0. The Wolves play their third straight game Tuesday against Chicago. That streak will be in SERIOUS jeopardy. But for now, let’s appreciate the fact that we get to watch Ricky Rubio play basketball for three straight days. Was today a perfect win? Not by a long shot. But it’s a good start.

Washington Wizards (0-7) vs Minnesota Timberwolves (2-5)

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Last games: Minnesota: L, 98-87 vs Cleveland, Washington: L 99-96 vs New York

Minnesota came out flat Friday and Cleveland came out ready to go as the Cavs easily handled the Wolves in a disappointing home loss. Turnovers and bad shooting doomed Minnesota.

Washington lost a heartbreaker to New York on Friday, as the Knicks rallied late to steal away Washington’s first win of the season 99-96. The Wizards remain winless on the year.

The Key Questions

#1. How will Beasley’s absence affect the Wolves?

Michael Beasley will miss the next three games with a sprained right foot. I unabashedly love Michael Beasley. Is he the best player on the Wolves? Of course not. Is he the most valuable? Heavens no. Is he fatally inefficient? We can’t know for sure, but it certainly appears to be possible. Is he hilarious? Does he occasionally show tantalizing flashes of his potential? Do I find the Wolves more entertaining when he’s on the floor? Yes, yes, and yes.

However. Beasley’s absence will push Adelman in some interesting directions. Does Wes Johnson get the start at the 3? How will he perform playing in a position where he feels more natural? Or will rookie Derrick Williams get the minutes instead? And if Williams gets the minutes, will Adelman start Rubio as well, whose developing chemistry with Williams has been dominating the Sportscenter Top 10 every game?

Unless Williams goes off like TNT, these next three games without Beasley won’t decide the lineup going forward, but they might give us some indication of the direction Minnesota plans to go. And it might even hurry along the process a bit.

#2. Could this game actually burn people’s eyeballs?

Consider this quote from Wizards coach Flip Saunders after Washington lost to New York on Friday (via Truth About It):

Two things that hurt us: they made 27 points off turnovers, and we shot 61% from the free throw line.

So…another young, potentially turnover prone team who struggles from the free throw line? This could be excruciating.

The good news is that both teams have a lot of athleticism and even though Washington is last in the league in pace, John Wall likes to push the ball up the court, so at very least, expect a track meet. But I’d bring a pair of goggles. Just in case.

#3. How will the Wolves play away from home?

Minnesota’s schedule thus far has been undeniably brutal, especially for such a young team trying to get their bearings. But the way the schedule makers tried to make up for it, evidently, is by making all of their games at home. You know, so the Wolves could lose in front of their increasingly frustrated home fans instead of a lackluster American Airlines Arena crowd in Miami.

Anyway, this is the Wolves first away game since losing a nail-biter to the Bucks in Milwaukee, so we’ll see how they adjust to life on the road.

I’d be more worried about the fact that this game is early if Beasley was playing. But it’s also worth noting that the game starts at noon for us denizens of the Central Time Zone.

The Key Matchups

Even in games against inferior teams, and whatever you think about Minnesota as a basketball team, Washington is clearly an inferior team, a lack of focus can doom you. Just ask the Knicks, who almost blew a game against this Washington team on Friday before ‘Melo put on his Superman cape and saved the day.

If Adelman leaves Ridnour on John Wall too long, Wall is going to have a field day. Ridnour is many things, some of them good, but he is not a reliable defender of athletic point guards. Rubio, on the other hand, has shown a surprising talent for moving his feet and staying in front of people, bothering them as they attempt to drive. John Wall would be an interesting test, since he is essentially an electrical charge dressed up in basketball clothes.

Washington’s version of Michael Beasley, the slightly insane but extremely entertaining Javale McGee, could prove problematic for the Wolves as well. He’s built like Ryan Hollins, but jumps like Serge Ibaka. Fortunately, McGee is the guy who once did this, so his decision making won’t be what dooms the Wolves.

Despite the quote earlier, as a team, the Wizards are surprisingly stingy with their turnovers, just 22nd in the league in turnover ratio. The Wolves, of course, are first. Minnesota will need to take care of the ball better. But you already knew that.

The Outlook

The last time I said Minnesota should win a game was on Friday, when they got trounced by Cleveland. On the other hand, the Wizards are even worse than Cleveland and winless so far this year.

On the other OTHER hand, the Wolves will be experimenting with new lineups, playing on the road for the first time in six games. The entire team has been shooting the ball badly for two straight games, turning it over with abandon, and oh dear God please don’t let us lose to the freaking Wizards.

Game starts at noon of Fox Sports North

Here’s the news via ESPN:

MINNEAPOLIS – Minnesota Timberwolves forward Michael Beasley will miss at least the next three games with a sprained right foot.

Beasley had an MRI on Saturday, which revealed no broken bones. He was injured with less than two minutes to play in Friday night’s loss to Cleveland.

I’m interested in seeing who takes Beasley’s spot in the starting five. What I could foresee happening is Wes Johnson sliding to the 3 and either Wayne Ellington OR Ricky Rubio being slid into the backcourt. What I don’t believe we’ll see yet is Derrick Williams playing the 3, but who knows; we’re dealing with Rick Adelman here.

So before we launch into tonight’s (first) recap, I have two words for you: Barea’s suit. I was at the game, so I have no idea if League Pass was kind enough to catch the sheer, shining brilliance that was Jose Juan Barea’s attire tonight, but if it did, I certainly hope for your sake that you saw it. I’ll try to include a screen cap later.

Tonight was a strange, exciting, intriguing, mystifying, and ultimately informative second night of a back to back. The Wolves showed some serious flaws, but also some serious promise that we didn’t know they had. They showed the benefits of a new coach, and they realized the potential of an older lineup. They showed poise, staying ahead of and ultimately soundly beating an experienced winner, and they showed the youth of a team who can bounce back on the second night of a tough back to back and win.

Possibly most important: they showed how much they are enjoying playing together. That kind of chemistry is utterly invaluable, and it makes for an infectious, likable team on the court.

Or. You know. Barea’s suit.

I’ll have MUCH more analysis as soon as I get home to real internet. For now, bask in the glory of a winning streak, Wolves fans. Bask.