Spurs at Timberwolves
Tim Duncan’s tough start appears to be a thing of the past, making the San Antonio Spurs even more dangerous. Duncan will look to build on his latest 20-20 performance when the Spurs visit Kevin Love and the Minnesota Timberwolves on Wednesday in Mexico City. Duncan became the oldest player in history to post a 20-20 performance when he collected 23 points and 21 rebounds on Monday, the last two of those points coming on a jumper with 0.4 seconds left.
Love is the heir apparent to Duncan in many ways but is still working on leading his team to the playoffs. The Timberwolves got off to a strong start but dropped six of their last eight to fall a game below .500 and are staring at a two-game stretch against San Antonio and the Miami Heat. Defense is the biggest issue and Minnesota is surrendering 104.1 points in its last eight games.
TV: 9:30 p.m. ET, NBATV, FSN Southwest (San Antonio), FSN North (Minnesota)
ABOUT THE SPURS (15-3): Duncan, 37, was showing his age the first month of the season and averaged 11.3 points on 39.2 percent shooting in his first 13 games. The future Hall of Famer is rounding back into shape over the last three contests, during which he put up 20.7 points on 63.4 percent shooting and had just his second double-double of the campaign in Monday’s 102-100 win over Atlanta. “We never lost trust in (Duncan),” Manu Ginobili said after the win. “We would be crazy if we did.”
ABOUT THE TIMBERWOLVES (9-10): Minnesota led the Oklahoma City Thunder at the start of the fourth quarter on Sunday but ended up shooting 26.1 percent in the final period while suffering a 113-103 setback. Finishing games is becoming an issue for the Timberwolves, who have been outscored by an average of 6.8 points during the fourth quarter of their last four setbacks. Minnesota is led offensively by Love and Kevin Martin, who is putting up 26.7 points over the last three games.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. This is the first NBA regular season game in Mexico since 1997.
2. Martin is shooting 93.9 percent from the free-throw line - second in the NBA.
3. Minnesota took the final two meetings last season by an average of 18.5 points.