Jazz at Timberwolves
Andrew Wiggins is learning the ups and downs of an NBA career and he has been on both sides of the equation this week. The 21-year-old Wiggins will look to follow up a 41-point performance when the Minnesota Timberwolves host the Utah Jazz on Saturday.
Wiggins' stellar outing in a 112-105 road loss to the Washington Wizards on Friday occurred three nights after he tallied eight points on 2-of-15 shooting during a 93-91 defeat against the Philadelphia 76ers. "Wiggins is a great basketball player," power forward Gorgui Dieng told reporters after Friday's game. "I talk to him a lot. He cannot pick and choose when he wants to play. He's a good basketball player. We need him to play like this every night. ... He's our leader. He needs to play like this every night." The Jazz are 1-2 on a five-game road trip, dropping games to Boston and Toronto after opening the trip with a 101-89 victory over the Brooklyn Nets. Utah will again be without point guard George Hill (concussion, lip laceration), who will miss his fourth consecutive contest.
TV: 8 p.m. ET, ROOT (Utah), FSN North (Minnesota)
ABOUT THE JAZZ (22-15): Center Rudy Gobert is making a bid for the Western Conference All-Star squad and he has collected 10 or more rebounds in a franchise-record 22 consecutive games. The 7-1 Gobert leads the NBA with 95 blocked shots and possesses solid averages of 12.5 points and 12.2 rebounds. "The biggest thing that I always try to tell him is just to not worry about what is going on externally and just to try to stay focused on what he's doing in his improvement," Utah coach Quin Snyder told reporters. "There's a reason for that. I think that's why he's improved so much, is because he's been able to stay focused. Clearly, Rudy's got an enthusiasm for the game."
ABOUT THE TIMBERWOLVES (11-25): Wiggins connected on 16-of-30 shots against the Wizards but couldn't prevent Minnesota from losing for the third straight game and sixth time in the past eight contests. The Timberwolves displayed progress on the defensive end while allowing an average of 94 points in the first two games of the losing streak but Minnesota was outscored 32-20 in the final quarter on Friday to see a potential victory turn into another defeat. Second-year center Karl-Anthony Towns recorded 18 points and 10 rebounds against the Wizards for his sixth straight double-double and 16th in the past 17 games.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. The Jazz won the past four meetings, including a 112-103 road victory on Nov. 28.
2. Minnesota SG Zach LaVine tallied just eight points on 3-of-14 shooting against Washington after scoring 28 against Philadelphia.
3. Slumping Utah SG Rodney Hood is averaging 10.3 points on 12-of-39 shooting over the past three games.