GDT: Minnesota vs. Sacramento

[Camden [enjin:6601484]]

4-9... You are what your record says you are. Typically, I don't like that saying because it ignores the context of the season, but in the Wolves case it rings true to this point. Minnesota has been healthy, all things considered, as they've only been without D'Angelo Russell and Patrick Beverley for two games (one suspension) while Naz Reid has missed one game. The Wolves have also been the beneficiary of their opponents missing significant players when they've played them. Simply, there are no excuses.

With all of that said...I'm going out on a limb here.

Call it hope. Call it blind faith. Call me crazy. Call me, maybe -- wait, let's get back to it. Tonight begins a four-game winning streak that gets Minnesota back in the hunt and out of the cellar. I believe in the talent on this team. I believe in Chris Finch. Here are the Wolves' next four opponents beginning with tonight's game:

11/17: vs. Sacramento Kings
11/18: vs. San Antonio Spurs
11/20: vs. Memphis Grizzlies
11/22: at New Orleans Pelicans

These are four winnable games; four games that Minnesota needs to win. A four-game streak puts the Wolves at 8-9 heading into a tough 20-game stretch. Quite literally, there are no easy games in December. This team is about to go through the ringer soon so they have to win these games or it can get very ugly, very quickly.

Anything is possible! It all starts tonight.

[Camden [enjin:6601484]]

Jon Krawczynski:

Chris Finch says Naz Reid is feeling better and "leaning towards" playing tonight. But will see how he feels before the game.

[KG4Ever]

Looking at the remaining Wolves games the only games they will likely be heavy favorites will be two more against Houston (one in January and one in April) and two against Detroit in early February. They might be slight favorites against Spurs in March and April (if Spurs are in tank mode) and Orlando in March. Sure the games against Sacramento, OKC, Spurs and New Orleans should be tossups and the Wolves will catch a few teams napping, but this team will struggle just to meet my lofty 33 win prediction.

[Camden [enjin:6601484]]

Looking at the remaining Wolves games the only games they will likely be heavy favorites will be two more against Houston (one in January and one in April) and two against Detroit in early February. They might be slight favorites against Spurs in March and April (if Spurs are in tank mode) and Orlando in March. Sure the games against Sacramento, OKC, Spurs and New Orleans should be tossups and the Wolves will catch a few teams napping, but this team will struggle just to meet my lofty 33 win prediction.

You may be right, but I also think the Wolves haven't played their best basketball yet -- not even close to their best, really. We'll see!

[KG4Ever]

4-9... You are what your record says you are. Typically, I don't like that saying because it ignores the context of the season, but in the Wolves case it rings true to this point. Minnesota has been healthy, all things considered, as they've only been without D'Angelo Russell and Patrick Beverley for two games (one suspension) while Naz Reid has missed one game. The Wolves have also been the beneficiary of their opponents missing significant players when they've played them. Simply, there are no excuses.

With all of that said...I'm going out on a limb here.

Call it hope. Call it blind faith. Call me crazy. Call me, maybe -- wait, let's get back to it. Tonight begins a four-game winning streak that gets Minnesota back in the hunt and out of the cellar. I believe in the talent on this team. I believe in Chris Finch. Here are the Wolves' next four opponents beginning with tonight's game:

11/17: vs. Sacramento Kings
11/18: vs. San Antonio Spurs
11/20: vs. Memphis Grizzlies
11/22: at New Orleans Pelicans

These are four winnable games; four games that Minnesota needs to win. A four-game streak puts the Wolves at 8-9 heading into a tough 20-game stretch. Quite literally, there are no easy games in December. This team is about to go through the ringer soon so they have to win these games or it can get very ugly, very quickly.

Anything is possible! It all starts tonight.

These are all toss-ups and Wolves could go 4-0 or 0-4 or anything in between. While the schedule will strengthen after those games, a 4-0 or even 3-1 record may give them a boost of confidence to take down some of the better teams. On the other hand..... well let's not go there for now.

[Camden [enjin:6601484]]

Tonight's key role players:

- Jaden McDaniels: I think he'll end up playing a lot of minutes tonight defending Harrison Barnes. He'll probably give us next to nothing offensively, but if he can limit Barnes and stay out of foul trouble, that will go a long way to winning this game.

- Naz Reid: If his foot allows him to be the player we know him to be, then I think he's going to be a problem for Sacramento's reserve bigs. Minnesota missed him against Phoenix as Reid can put pressure on the rim and score in the paint. This team has few players that can actually do that. I expect 10-15 points off the bench for him tonight.

[AbeVigodaLive]

I believe the Wolves have had only two winning streaks longer than 4 games since 2004.

[Camden [enjin:6601484]]

I believe the Wolves have had only two winning streaks longer than 4 games since 2004.

Yep, it doesn't happen very often. That means we should really enjoy this one four games from now.

[FNG]

It's a tipping point of the season for our Wolves. As Cam said in teeing up this thread, the next 4 games are all winnable. But as KG4 said, we could go 4-0 or 0-4...this team is that unpredictable. I liked the way they played against a very good Suns team, and I have a feeling it might carry over to tonight. I think the Wolves win and cover the 2-point spot tonight behind a bounce back game from Anthony Edwards.

[Camden [enjin:6601484]]

Josh Okogie is out tonight. Thank goodness. The Wolves are going to be better with him on the sideline.