Nets at Timberwolves
The Minnesota Timberwolves are losers of 12 of their last 13 games and returned from a road trip with a dud on Saturday, dropping a 94-88 decision to the Cleveland Cavaliers. The Timberwolves will take another crack at finding the win column when they host the Brooklyn Nets on Monday.
Minnesota snapped an 11-game slide with a double-overtime victory at Sacramento on Thursday to finish off a four-game road trip but could not get a shot to fall on Saturday and lost despite forcing 29 turnovers against the Cavaliers. "We were able to get a win at Sacramento, but it wasn't pretty," Timberwolves coach Ryan Saunders told reporters. "Our defense carried us there. Tonight, once again it wasn't pretty." The Nets dropped their last two games and are having their own issues on the offensive end after failing to reach 100 points in either setback. "In the Knicks game we shot 27 percent," Brooklyn guard Spencer Dinwiddie told reporters, referring to a 94-82 loss at New York on Thursday. "That was out of character, a really bad collective night. I think tonight (Saturday's 108-98 loss at Houston) more so than our collective offense playing bad, you've gotta call a spade a spade: I played very terribly."
TV: 8 p.m. ET, YES (Brooklyn), FS North (Minnesota)
ABOUT THE NETS (16-15): Dinwiddie is averaging 22.5 points but is struggling with his shot of late and went a combined 11-of-35 from the floor in the last two games, including 3-of-16 from beyond the arc and 17-of-28 from the free-throw line. The shooting issues extend to the rest of the starting perimeter players as well, with Garrett Temple a combined 3-of-19 over the last two games and Joe Harris 8-of-26. Brooklyn is hoping to get some backcourt help soon in the form of Kyrie Irving (shoulder) and Caris LeVert (thumb), who have both been out since mid-November but are expected back in early January.
ABOUT THE TIMBERWOLVES (11-20): Minnesota was without top scorers Karl-Anthony Towns (knee) and Andrew Wiggins (illness) on Saturday and shot 35.5 percent from the floor, including 8-of-37 from beyond the arc. "It's going to look different when you don't have your two best players," Saunders told reporters. "That's normal. When you're missing two big pieces like that, you need guys to step up. It's not like those guys are out, so we completely scrap the system. That's not what I'm about. That's not what we're about." Towns, who leads the team in scoring (26.5 points) and rebounding (11.7) while shooting 51.4 percent from the floor, missed the last six games but is progressing in his rehab while Wiggins (24.8 points, 5.4 rebounds) is day-to-day.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Timberwolves PG Shabazz Napier is 16-of-60 from the floor over the last seven games.
2. Nets C Jarrett Allen collected 16 points and 10 rebounds on Saturday for his seventh double-double of December.
3. Minnesota is enjoying a four-game winning streak in the series and earned a 127-126 overtime win at Brooklyn on Oct. 23.