Bucks at Timberwolves
The Minnesota Timberwolves and the Milwaukee Bucks own two of the most exciting young rosters in the NBA, but only one of them is consistently finding the way into the win column. The Bucks will try to pull over .500 and win for the third time in four games when they visit the Timberwolves on Friday.
Milwaukee put up 119 points against the best scoring defense in the Eastern Conference in a 119-94 triumph at Detroit on Wednesday as budding stars Jabari Parker and Giannis Antetokounmpo combined for 54 points, 15 assists and 14 rebounds. "Anytime when guys play to that caliber and both of them got it going, it just makes us that much better," Bucks reserve center Greg Monroe told reporters. "We’ve got to feed off of them. Everybody has to come in and do their job and make sure we’re doing our part because obviously, they’re doing theirs." The Timberwolves enjoyed their own stretch of four wins in seven games but could not make it five in eight on Wednesday, when they dropped a 105-103 heartbreaker at the Denver Nuggets. Minnesota could use more help from its supporting cast after watching the bench total eight points on 3-of-15 shooting against the Nuggets.
TV: 8 p.m. ET, NBATV, FSN Wisconsin (Milwaukee), FSN North (Minnesota)
ABOUT THE BUCKS (15-15): Parker scored 20 or more points in nine of the last 12 games and went 13-of-18 from the floor in Wednesday's win. "His confidence is high," Milwaukee coach Jason Kidd told reporters of Parker. "He’s playing extremely well for us. We need him to play like he did tonight. Everybody’s going to look at his points but I thought his total game, being able to find guys, get guys open and then also on the defensive end I thought he did a really good job." Antetokounmpo scored at least 22 points in each of the last nine contests and reached 30 three times in that span.
ABOUT THE TIMBERWOLVES (10-22): Andrew Wiggins, Zach LaVine and Karl-Anthony Towns can match up with any team's young talent, and Towns is coming off his first career triple-double in the loss at Denver. The multi-talented 21-year-old center collected 15 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists in 25 minutes but is never satisfied and bemoaned his team's tendency to slump during games. “That’s up to us, I’ve got to find it myself," Towns told the Minneapolis Star Tribune. "I’ve got to be like (Oklahoma City Thunder guard) Russell Westbrook, who’s a 48-minute player."
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Bucks SG Tony Snell is 9-of-14 from 3-point range in the last two games.
2. Timberwolves PF Gorgui Dieng matched a season high with 20 points on 9-of-11 shooting on Wednesday.
3. Milwaukee took the last four in the series, including the last two trips to Minnesota.