The Minnesota Timberwolves were stunned by the Orlando Magic the other night. They were looking for bounce back in a major way with Houston coming into town. The good thing about this game was if the Timberwolves won they would get Coach Finch into the All Star game as the Western Conference Head Coach.
It was a game that started out back and forth as both the Rockets/Timberwolves were figuring each other out. The 2nd half it was clear that Anthony Edwards came out with another gear as he was able to score 22 points in the 3rd quarter alone. When Edwards plays like this the Timberwolves are tough to beat.
The Minnesota Timberwolves were coming into this game getting Mike Conley back into the lineup. That would be a huge boost as Minnesota has been playing without him due to injury/illness. In his absence Nickeil Alexander Walker stepped up his game big time. On the flip side the Mavericks were going to be playing against the Timberwolves without Luka Doncic, Derek Lively, and Kyrie Irving. Luka alone is a huge blow to this offense but the Mavs were going to depend on the young players to come out with a win.
The first half of this game was a battle as the Mavericks came out showing that it was going to be a tough matchup. Josh Green was able to put the Mavericks on his back as he was able to attack the paint tonight and hit some 3 pointers to help the Mavericks keep it close. Green was the leading scorer for the Mavericks finishing with 18 points, 2 rebounds, and 1 assist. The Mavericks were able to make it tough on the Timberwolves early as Minnesota wasn’t hitting any 3 pointers and at one point they were shooting 16%. Tonight the Timberwolves were able to focus on the paint as both Karl-Anthony Towns and Rudy Gobert led the way. In the 2nd half the game got out of hand for Dallas as they weren’t able to score like they did in the first half.
The Timberwolves were able to dominate in the paint tonight with their bigs getting whatever they wanted from Dallas. The Timberwolves had 52 points in the paint and that was led by Karl-Anthony Towns who had finished with 29 points, 9 rebounds, and 4 assists. When KAT is playing like this the Timberwolves can do whatever they want because he’s attacking the mismatch on the inside/outside. Towns has been special this season and his playmaking ability has been impressive as well because he can get Rudy Gobert looks in his spots too. Rudy finished with 17 points and 6 rebounds. Obviously Rudy wants to make the best of the situation in the rebounding department but he will take the win every time.
The Timberwolves were able to remain #1 in the Western Conference after this win against the Mavericks but this was a true test that you can’t sleep on your opponent. The Mavs didn’t have their all stars but the Timberwolves did take care of business when they needed tonight.
The Minnesota Timberwolves ‘s were coming into this game, needing a bounce back performance after the game against Oklahoma City. What better way than to try to take that loss out on the nine win Charlotte Hornets. The Minnesota Timberwolves were without Mike Conley as he was out and do the rest. That meant that Nickeil Alexander Walker would be put into the starting lineup in his absence where he’s been amazing for the Timberwolves.
The Timberwolves were in a dogfight all night long with the Charlotte Hornets as Miles Bridges came out, aggressively, trying to set the tone for his team. Bridges was able to get to his spots, and he was able to knock down some crucial jumpers with hands in his face. The biggest difference in this game was the fact that LaMelo Ball was there tonight and he wasn’t there the last game that they played in December. When LaMelo is on the court things change for the better when the hornets play against talk to teams in the NBA. LaMelo being in there helps with the spacing, and it also helps with his ability to attack the basket with ease. Tonight the Charlotte hornets showed a lot of growth as they played with poise and patience. Brandon Miller was able to get to the basket and flourish with his jumpsuit as well. Once Miller got going that’s when the Hornets were able to chip away at the Timberwolves lead. Miles Bridges finished with 28 points tonight and made it tough on the defense tonight with his willingness to attack the paint while getting hacked.
Karl-Anthony Towns was able to get whatever you want it tonight against the Charlotte hornets and I started back on December 2 in Charlotte. No one on the Charlotte Hornets can defend him and he made it very clear that he was going for the big number. Kat finished with a career high 62 points in this game against the Hornets and he made it look easy. At one point, Karl-Anthony Towns was eight for eight from the three-point line and he couldn’t miss anything. You can tell that he was getting tired down the stretch but he didn’t wanna be the one to take a self out the game. This was a special night in Target Center because we were witnessing greatness.
The problem with the special night was the fact that everyone got caught in Karl-Anthony Towns going for 100 points. It took a lot away from the game because everyone knows who’s getting the ball and that is extremely tough to do with any offense because you know what’s going to happen. This one’s going to be a tough loss for the Minnesota Timberwolves but they need to bounce back in Washington DC against the Wizards. Look for Anthony Edwards to get his game going as he wasn’t able to establish anything tonight but he did tie a career high 11 assist. This team will be back where they need to be believe that.
The Oklahoma City thunder came in the Minnesota for a battle between the first place and second place teams in the Western Conference. Coming into this game. It was going to be a showdown between Shai Gilgeous, Alexander and Anthony Edwards. Both are in the top five shooting guards in the NBA today. Both teams are hungry and want to be able to prove that they deserve to be at the top of the Western Conference and this was a true test for both teams, regardless of who came out on top.
The Thunder came out first and punched Minnesota in the mouth as they came out with a lot of energy and they were able to make a lot of early buckets in this game. The Oklahoma City Thunder were able to get to the spots as a collective unit and made it tough on the Timberwolves in the first quarter. The Thunder got to every loose ball and they seem like they got every rebound in the first half. Thunder were led by Shai Gilgeous-Alexander tonight as he had a game high of 33 points and he added 2 rebounds with 6 assists. The Thunder were able to play through Shai Gilgeous-Alexander tonight as he made some tough shots down the stretch over the Minnesota Defense. Tonight was the opportunity for SGA to put the team on his back and he did that for Oklahoma City. The Minnesota Timberwolves didn’t have an answer for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander when it came to him getting to the line for free throws. SGA was getting those MVP like calls and was able to make them pay at the line. SGA made some tough buckets that had every watching in amazement. The Thunder played as a unit and even Chet Holmgren made it tough on Rudy Gobert as it looked like every time he was going for the lob he was denied by the rookie.
The Minnesota Timberwolves came out the gate with Naz Reid hitting some big shots that were able to keep them in the game. Anthony, I was said that Naz Reid the energy that night and he was able to redo that energy tonight as he finished with 18 points. The Minnesota Timberwolves only had four players in double figures, and it still came down to three points at the end of the game where Anthony Edwards missed a couple of free throwing that could’ve forced things to overtime.
Both teams are 1 & 2 in the West and it would be special to see them in the WCF.
Baltimore is coming off a bye after locking up the overall number one seed in this years playoff, hopefully the rest they were so much deserving of will help them get out to a hot start against the Texans who played marvelous in last week’s blowout win against the Browns.
Lamar is looking to add the MVP trophy along with hopefully a Super Bowl ring. The team will try and continue their dominance that they’ve had all year long. The Ravens did sign Dalvin Cook after being released by the Bills last week, he will help Lamar in the run game which should open up the pass game for Lamar.
CJ Stroud continues his incredible rookie season with an almost perfect game last week throwing for 274 yards on 16/21 passing attempts with 3 touchdowns. The Texans will need to be risky and come out swinging if they want to stay in this game with the high flying Ravens.
Score Prediction: Ravens 31-Texans 24
San Francisco 49ers vs Green Bay Packers
The 49ers are coming off a bye week after clinching the number one seed in the NFC looking to continue their explosiveness from the season that started shaky for them. As for Green Bay they are coming off what would’ve been a blowout win against the Cowboys if it wasn’t for a few garbage time touchdowns against their backups.
The 49ers will be refreshed and healthy going into this matchup in which they should dominate on both sides of the ball if they can stop Green Bay run game and avoid any broken plays made by Jordan Love they should be able to get their backups in to close the game.
Jordan Love, welcome to your highlights young man… Jordan passed for 272 yards on 16/21 attempts with 3 touchdowns that most were made out of broken plays… Aaron Jones finally arrived last week with 3 touchdowns and a total of 131 yards, the Packers will need Jones to go off again to help lead the way for the Packers to try and stay in this game.
