Timberwolves at Suns
THE STORY: About the only thing this season the Minnesota Timberwolves can boast about is the play of Kevin Love. But the second-year forward might not be able to prevent the Timberwolves from heading into the postseason on a lengthy losing skid. Love will almost certainly not be in the lineup Monday as Minnesota looks to snap a 13-game losing streak when the club travels to face the struggling Phoenix Suns.
TV: 10 p.m. ET, FS-North, KUTP45-Phoenix
ABOUT THE SUNS (38-42): The return of Steve Nash wasn’t enough to save the Suns from their latest lopsided loss, a 115-90 drubbing by Dallas on Sunday. The setback was Phoenix’s eighth in 10 games and assured the team of a sub-.500 record, which has not occurred since the 2003-04 campaign. Nash was back from a strained hamstring but logged only 25 minutes, and had six points and nine assists. He said he wants to play in the season’s final two games as long as his body allows him to do so. The Suns have beaten the Timberwolves eight consecutive times and have a great shot at extending the streak against the Western Conference’s worst squad.
ABOUT THE TIMBERWOLVES (17-63): Love has missed seven of the last nine contests, and likely has played the final game of his impressive season because of a lingering groin injury. Love is the odds-on favorite to capture the NBA’s Most Improved Player award, averaging 20.2 points and a league-high 15.2 rebounds while shooting 41.7 percent on 3-pointers. With or without Love, the Timberwolves haven’t been very good in the last month. In Saturday’s 130-106 loss to Denver, Minnesota allowed a franchise-record 19 3-pointers. The Wolves last picked up a win on March 11 against Utah, and are tied with Cleveland for the worst record in the league.
WHO’S HOT/WHO’S NOT: Suns center Marcin Gortat has averaged 12.8 points and 9.3 rebounds in 52 games since being acquired from Orlando. Suns starting forward Channing Frye is averaging only 5.6 points on 28 percent shooting in his last three. Martell Webster is averaging 15.6 points over his last five for Minnesota. Timberwolves center Darko Milicic has only four points in his last two outings.
KEY STATISTIC: The Timberwolves average margin of defeat is 14.3 during the losing streak.
SEASON SERIES: Phoenix will be looking for the three-game season sweep. The Suns won an entertaining affair 128-122 on Dec. 15 as Nash dished out 19 assists and prevailed 108-98 on Thursday.
KEY INJURIES: PHOENIX: G Mickael Pietrus (quadriceps); F Gani Lawal (knee). MINNESOTA: F Kevin Love (groin); C Darko Milicic (ankle); G Sebastian Telfair (flu).
LAST WORD: "I thought I was a pretty good player before. But I feel I have improved a lot this year. I definitely put in the work and effort to get better and I’m going to continue to do that.” - Love.