The the umpteenth time this season the Timberwolves are catching a break against a team that will be without some of its best players.
The Wolves are in Milwaukee Friday for a game against the Bucks, who will be without two star players. Khris Middleton has been ruled out for a seventh straight game with knee soreness and Jrue Holiday is out because of an illness. Backup point guard George Hill is also out sick.
That puts the pressure on Giannis Antetokounmpo as he and the Bucks are back home after a brutal road trip that took them to New Orleans, Cleveland, Brooklyn, Boston and Chicago. They won in New Orleans and then dropped the next four.
Minnesota has also lost four straight, most recently Wednesday in a New Orleans thriller. It was a step in the right direction for the Wolves, but this is the same team that has been on a roller coaster all season despite being blessed with seven games against teams who were without key players.
Let’s rehash the bad memories…
- Nov. 1: 116-107 loss at Phoenix, who didn’t have Deandre Ayton
- Nov. 4: 115-102 loss vs. Milwaukee, who didn’t have Khris Middleton
- Nov. 25: 110-108 loss at Charlotte, who didn’t have LaMelo Ball
- Dec. 26: 113-110 loss at Miami, who didn’t have Jimmy Butler or Bam Adebayo
The Wolves had all of their key starters in those four losses.
Minnesota also got lucky when Donovan Mitchell and Jarrett Allen didn’t play in their 129-124 win at Cleveland Nov. 13. And don’t forget that James Harden, Tobias Harris and Tyrese Maxey were out when Minnesota barely beat the 76ers in Philly on Nov. 19. Oh, and Jimmy Butler didn’t play in Minnesota’s 105-101 win over Miami on Nov. 21.
Slice it however you want, but the Timberwolves have had seven opportunities against teams who were missing at least one of their best players and they’ve only won three of those games. That’s not good enough.
It would be nice to play the “oh well Karl-Anthony Towns has been injured” card, but Towns played in all but one of those games, the most recent one this past Monday in Miami.
