Timberwolves at 76ers
The Philadelphia 76ers can count a six-game road trip as a success if they manage to come out with two wins, and they are riding high as they return home. The 76ers will try to make it three wins in the last six games when they host the struggling Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday.
Philadelphia picked off the Phoenix Suns and the Sacramento Kings on the trip to triple their season win total but head home after dropping the final two legs to the Lakers and Clippers in Los Angeles. The 76ers showed off an ability to take advantage of other down-on-their-luck teams with those two wins but got another lesson in just how far away they are from competing at higher levels in a 130-99 loss to the Clippers that closed out the trip. The Timberwolves are another team caught in a slump and have lost six of their last seven games without reaching 100 points in any of those contests. Minnesota shot 39.3 percent from the field in a 95-85 home loss to the defensively-challenged Milwaukee Bucks on Saturday, including a 3-of-14 effort from 3-point range.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, FSN North (Minnesota), CSN Philadelphia
ABOUT THE TIMBERWOLVES (12-22): Even the relative dependability of rookie center Karl-Anthony Towns has come into question of late, after the Kentucky product went 4-of-17 from the field while going up against Bucks center Greg Monroe on Saturday. Towns had scored at least 22 points in five of the previous seven games and was 34-of-56 from the field in the four games prior to Saturday’s dud. The worst game of Towns’ otherwise-stellar rookie campaign may have come against Philadelphia on Nov. 23, when he was limited to six points and two rebounds in a 100-95 Minnesota win.
ABOUT THE 76ERS (3-33): Rookie center Jahlil Okafor outplayed Towns with 25 points and 12 rebounds in that first meeting, and he is working his way back after missing two games with knee soreness. Okafor came off the bench for the third straight game against the Clippers on Saturday and delivered 23 points on 10-of-14 shooting in 18 minutes. The lineup change has allowed Nerlens Noel to move back to the center spot with the starters, and he is averaging 16 points and 9.2 rebounds while shooting 70.8 percent from the field in the last five games.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. 76ers PG Ish Smith totaled 13 points on 5-of-28 shooting in the last two games after putting up 54 his first three with the team.
2. Minnesota G Zach LaVine is 5-of-23 from the field in the last three games.
3. Philadelphia G Nik Stauskas hit six 3-pointers on Saturday, one fewer than his total from the previous 13 games.