Hornets at Timberwolves
THE STORY: The Minnesota Timberwolves very well could be undermanned when they host the New Orleans Hornets on Saturday night. The status of Kevin Love and Ricky Rubio remain up in the air. Love didn’t make it out of the locker room because of back spasms and Rubio suffered a knee injury late in Minnesota’s loss to the Los Angeles Lakers on Friday. Both players are questionable to face the Hornets, who are attempting to avoid a winless road trip. The away team has won the last three meetings in the series.
TV: 8 p.m. ET, NBA TV
ABOUT THE HORNETS (9-31): The Western Conference-worst Hornets continued their struggles Friday, dropping their fourth in a row and third straight of a four-game road trip in a 110-97 loss to Denver. Lance Thomas, an undrafted free agent from Duke, led the way with 18 points while filling in on the injury-riddled frontline. The Hornets don’t score the ball with enough regularity to keep up with high-powered offenses, averaging 88.2 ppg – 29th in the NBA.
ABOUT THE TIMBERWOLVES (21-20): With Love unable to go, the Timberwolves turned to rookie Derrick Williams. They appear to have a keeper in the No. 2 pick of last year’s draft, as Williams produced 22 points and 10 rebounds in the start. He has averaged 15.1 points and 10.0 rebounds his past three games. Losing Rubio for an extended period of time would be a big blow for the up-and-coming Timberwolves. The rookie point guard was set to get an MRI exam after colliding with Kobe Bryant.
BUZZER BEATERS:
1. The Hornets continue to be without big men Emeka Okafor, Carl Landry and Jason Smith because of injuries.
2. Minnesota center Nikola Pekovic returned from a two-game absence to post 25 points and a season high-tying 13 rebounds against the Lakers.