Tonight's starting lineups:
MIN (15-14, 5-8 away)
PG Marco Jaric
"S"G Trenton Hassell
SF Wally Szczerbiak
PF KG
C Michael Olowokandi
SA (25-7, 15-1 home)
PG The French Layup Machine
SG Michael Finley
SF Bruce Bowen
PF Tim Duncan
C Rasho Nesterovic
Tonight the Spurs begin another back-to-back, hosting MIN. Tomorrow they play the perplexingly good Suns, who thankfully also play tonight, hosting the Heat.
The Timberwolves have struggled of late, having lost 4 of 5 by hefty margins (losing by an average of 14.75 PTS) before beating DAL at home. They are a little better than their 15-14 record indicates; they are currently 0-4 in games decided by 3 points or less which demonstrates at least a small amount of misfortune. However they are still a perimeter stopper and a third scorer away from being contenders. Hmm. Who's available that fits that description?
Let's pick a MIN player to rag on. How about Troy Hudson? How shitty was he down the stretch of the first matchup this year? Let's flash back:
It's a close game late if the fourth quarter and MIN is down by 3ish. Hudson is dribbling up the right side. Garnett gets tangled up with Bowen and falls down at midcourt. Hudson, apparently thinking he doesn't suck, takes a pull up 25-footer with a hand in his face and their best rebounder sitting 40 feet from the basket. Unbelievable. Troy's just another volume scorer: 10.7 PPG on 10 FGA; 35% from 3 (not great). And they're paying this guy serious money when I bet there's 10 guys in the NBDL/CBA that could put up the same numbers. (It's not like Hudson plays any defense.) Just one of the many reasons Garnett will demand a trade this summer. How about Deng, Chandler, salary filler, the Knicks lottery pick and CHI's lottery pick? That should work for both teams, no? And you know David Stern will make this happen.
Tonight's line: SA -9
Tonight's total: 178
My picks: MIN | Under