Hornets at Timberwolves
The Minnesota Timberwolves look like a team that can challenge for a Western Conference playoff spot on some nights and a lottery team on others. The Timberwolves are coming off one of their best performances of the season and will try to win back-to-back games for the first time under new head coach Tom Thibodeau when they host the Charlotte Hornets on Tuesday.
Minnesota began a four-game homestand with a loss to the Los Angeles Clippers before Andrew Wiggins went off for a career-high 47 points in a 125-99 win over the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday. “I think he’s smart, he’s driven,” Thibodeau told reporters of Wiggins. “I think sometimes, mistakenly, people take it that he’s laid back. He’s competitive. And I think he’s just scratching the surface. I think he can do a lot more." The Hornets have a player like that in Kemba Walker, who is averaging 25.3 points and scored at least 21 points in eight straight. Charlotte could not find enough help for Walker in its last two games as it got a look at how close it is to competing in the East with losses to Toronto and Cleveland by a combined nine points.
TV: 8 p.m. ET, FSN Southeast (Charlotte), FSN North (Minnesota)
ABOUT THE HORNETS (6-3): Charlotte allowed 100 or more points in four of their nine contests and dropped three of those four, with the exception coming in a 122-100 home win over the Indiana Pacers on Nov. 7. The Hornets struggled to keep the Raptors out of the lace in a 113-111 loss on Friday and failed to close out at the 3-point line on Sunday as the Cavaliers knocked down 14 3-points in the 100-93 setback. Forward Michael Kidd-Gilchrist is the most versatile defender on the roster but sat out Friday's game with a sore back and had to log 41 minutes on Sunday while chasing James around the floor.
ABOUT THE TIMBERWOLVES (3-6): Wiggins could see Kidd-Gilchrist or Walker or Nicolas Batum and likely a combination of several players as his primary defender on Tuesday, and adjusting defenders is a key to his success. “That’s a big part of this,” Thibodeau told reporters. “And the only way you learn, you prepare, you study. I think you have to work against it. I think that all those things factor into it. And then (you have the) responsibility of making the right play." Wiggins went 14-of-21 from the floor and 17-of-22 from the free-throw line in his career-best performance Sunday.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Timberwolves PF Nemanja Bjelica scored a career-high 24 points on 9-of-15 shooting Sunday.
2. Hornets SF Jeremy Lamb (hamstring) missed the last six games and is day-to-day.
3. Charlotte took the last five in the series, including the last two in Minnesota.