Minnesota Sports Forum

[center]Four Factors[/center]


[table]
[tr]
[th]Team[/th]
[th]Effective Field Goal Percentage[/th]
[th]Opponent's Effective Field Goal Percentage[/th]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]Washington Wizards[/td]
[td]51.9 (16th)[/td]
[td]49.4 (3rd)[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]Minnesota Timberwolves[/td]
[td]50.6 (23rd)[/td]
[td]50.1 (8th)[/td]
[/tr]
[/table]


[table]
[tr]
[th]Team[/th]
[th]Turnover Percentage[/th]
[th]Opponent's Turnover Percentage[/th]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]Washington Wizards[/td]
[td]14.4 (18th)[/td]
[td]11.6 (30th)[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]Minnesota Timberwolves[/td]
[td]16.0 (28th)[/td]
[td]17.6 (1st)[/td]
[/tr]
[/table]


[table]
[tr]
[th]Team[/th]
[th]Offensive Rebounding Percentage[/th]
[th]Defensive Rebounding Percentage[/th]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]Washington Wizards[/td]
[td]25.0 (24th)[/td]
[td]74.2 (11th)[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]Minnesota Timberwolves[/td]
[td]31.0 (3rd)[/td]
[td]68.1 (30th)[/td]
[/tr]
[/table]


[table]
[tr]
[th]Team[/th]
[th]Free Throw Attempt Rate[/th]
[th]Opponent's Free Throw Attempt Rate[/th]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]Washington Wizards[/td]
[td]0.244 (6th)[/td]
[td]0.234 (17th)[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]Minnesota Timberwolves[/td]
[td]0.209 (25th)[/td]
[td]0.279 (30th)[/td]
[/tr]
[/table]


[table]
[tr]
[th]Team[/th]
[th]Injury Report[/th]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]Washington Wizards[/td]
[td]- Thomas Bryant (Out): Left Knee Injury
- Rui Hachimura (Out): Not With Team[/td]
[tr]
[td]Minnesota Timberwolves[/td]
[td]- Anthony Edwards (Questionable): Flu-Like Symptoms
- Jaden McDaniels (Questionable): Flu-Like Symptoms
- Jarred Vanderbilt (Questionable): Flu-Like Symptoms
- Patrick Beverley (Out): Left Adductor Strain
[/td]
[/tr]
[/table]


Bottom Line

Stated bluntly, this should be a tough game for the Wolves. This isn't the Wizards of recent years who constantly underperformed and failed to build around their All-NBA guard Bradley Beal. Much like Minnesota, they've added around their star player with some highly competent and complimentary pieces. They offloaded Russell Westbrook and transformed the team with the additions of Spencer Dinwiddie, Montrezl Harrell, Kyle Kuzma, and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. This team defends and rebounds at a high level while being 6-0 in games decided by five points or less. Washington shouldn't be taken lightly. However, this Wizards team doesn't force turnovers, doesn't score in transition, and they're one of the worst teams in the league from behind the three-point line. These are areas where Minnesota should be able to win.

The Wolves need to be tough in the paint, which is where Washington predominantly feasts, and obliterate them in transition and from three. The Wolves are coming into this one as underdogs with four major contributors potentially out, but they're still just as talented, if not more talented, than their opponent at their best. We'll need All-Star performances from Karl-Anthony Towns and D'Angelo Russell. Let's get a win to start the month of December on the right track.

I think this is going to be a really hard game to win.

Traveling and 3 key rotation guys getting sick. Sleep is probably terrible. The wizards play super hard.

Think the Wolves are going to really struggle this game. What happens in the NBA.

If Ant,Mcdaniels and vando can't go the Wolves are going to need one of those crazy go off games from Beasley and Nowell.

Wish is luck just think the deck is against us for this game

Yeah, the Wiz are no joke this year. Deep and tough.

If we play with the kind of energy we showed against Miami and Philly, especially on defense, we should have a good chance of overcoming the unforced errors like TOs, fouls, and settling for iso offense that we just can't seem to shake. If we play kind of lackadaisically, as I thought we did against the Pacers, we'd need a lot of shooting luck to win.

This team (the Wolves) is confounding. Some games it seems like they come out with a ton of energy right off the bat, especially on defense. When we do, it feels like we always have a chance. Other games it feels a bit like everyone other than Vando and Pat Bev is going through the motions, just expecting the offense from KAT, Ant, and DLO to be enough.

In the long run, we really need to be more disciplined about TOs and fouls, and make quicker decisions on the offensive end to avoid settling into that clock-eating iso offense that just isn't the most efficient use of the offensive talent we've got. This team really could be a playoff team if they improved in those areas and just played hard all the time on defense.

EDIT: Whoa, just saw Ant is sick now too, along with Vando and Jaden. If we're missing all three tonight, we've got a hill to climb. They must be testing these guys regularly for COVID, right? So hopefully it is just a cold going around.

The Wiz are a bit of the opposite of Indiana in that their "predicted wins total" is less than their actual win total. So I consider them a team more similar to the Pacers than, say, Miami.

Regardless, they are a solid team and it will be tough to pull one out on the road. We have some highly motivated bench guys that can bring energy into the rotation if their number is called (Leo, Nowell, etc.). But can they make shots? That's the million dollar question with our backups. So far the answer has been a resounding no.

Yeah, the Ant news changes the complexion of this game. The Wiz are only 3 point favorites, but that line will go up if Ant is confirmed to be out. I'd take a shot at the Wiz-3 before the line moves.

Beal and DLo are both having interesting seasons, with markedly improved defense but poor shooting. Beal's outside shooting has fallen off a cliff, as he's making only 27% of his threes this season...10 percentage points below his career average...and only 22% in his past 6 games. Still, you can't sleep in him as he can go off at any time. He always attracts the best defender, so I expect JO to hound him all night.

It would be a great surprise if our three flu boys all were able to play, but without them, this one doesn't look good for us.

I was thinking of going to this game, but if Ant isn't playing, I am just not sure I can handle more KAT at this point. He is such a talent and such an Uber headcase. Uggh. He really is hard to cheer for.

Vanderbilt looks like he is playing.
McDaniels is out again
Ant is still questionable
Nowell has caught the flu bug going around the Wolves locker room and is now questionable

D'Angelo Russell

- First Six Games:

14.8 PTS (35.9 FG%, 28.9 3P%, 76.9 FT%), 4.5 AST (3.2 TOV), 3.8 REB, 0.8 STL, and 0.7 BLK in 28.0 MIN

.455 TS% / Two games scoring 20-plus
____

- Last 13 Games:

21.5 PTS (41.9 FG%, 36.1 3P%, 83.0 FT%), 6.8 AST (2.3 TOV), 3.8 REB, 0.9 STL, and 0.8 BLK in 34.2 MIN

.553 TS% / Eight games scoring 20-plus


D-Lo's distancing himself from his poor shooting to begin the season with every game it seems like. The Wolves need that to continue with another good outing tonight.

Dane Moore:

Anthony Edwards, Jarred Vanderbilt and Jaylen Nowell -- who are dealing with illnesses -- made the trip and are active tonight.

Finch says they will be monitoring how they feel.

Jaden McDaniels did not make the trip.

Ant looked like he was under the weather last game. Sure hope he can play some tonite.