Raptors at Timberwolves
The Minnesota Timberwolves are losers of four in a row and cannot afford to keep sliding if they hope to remain in the pack of teams that believe they have a chance to challenge for the No. 8 spot in the Western Conference down the stretch. The Toronto Raptors are in the process of pulling out of their own funk and will try to push their winning streak to three straight when they visit the Timberwolves on Wednesday.
Minnesota learned over the weekend that third-leading scorer Zach LaVine (18.9 points) would miss the rest of the season with a torn ACL in his left knee and could use more production from his vacated spot after Brandon Rush totaled 10 points in the last two games. The Timberwolves are also giving a bigger role to second-year point guard Tyus Jones, who handed out nine assists in 31 minutes off the bench in Monday's 115-113 loss to the Miami Heat. Jones and Rush, along with Andrew Wiggins and Ricky Rubio, will need to improve their focus on the defensive end against the Raptors' All-Star backcourt of DeMar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry, who combined for 55 points and went 7-of-11 from 3-point range in Monday's 118-109 win over the Los Angeles Clippers. "Kyle and DeMar willingly, on time and on target, gave up the ball, and that’s so important," Toronto coach Dwane Casey told reporters. "That’s a sign of growth."
TV: 8 p.m. ET, Sportsnet One (Toronto), FSN North (Minnesota)
ABOUT THE RAPTORS (32-21): DeRozan missed four straight games and seven of eight with an ankle injury before returning on Monday and pouring in 31 points in 38 minutes. "Sitting out, you kind of regain a certain hunger that you could lose track of when you’re out there playing,” DeRozan told reporters. "It gives you that hunger all over again to get back out there, to do what you were doing, but even at a higher level." Toronto lost four of the seven games DeRozan missed and battled through a stretch of eight losses in 10 games before winning the last two contests.
ABOUT THE TIMBERWOLVES (19-33): Minnesota coach Tom Thibodeau is known for his work on the defensive end and was highly critical of his team after it allowed the Heat to shoot 52.3 percent and drain 15 3-pointers on Monday. "Our best players have to lead," Thibodeau told reporters. "They can’t be one-sided players. This isn't football, where there’s an offense and a defense. You have to play both sides of the ball to play it well. You have to play it unselfishly, you have to play it together and you have to have the discipline to do it over and over again. And so until we figure that out, it’s going to be hard to move forward." The Timberwolves are allowing an average of 115.8 points over the last four games.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Raptors PF Patrick Patterson (knee) missed the last two games and remains day-to-day.
2. Timberwolves rookie PG Kris Dunn (hand) missed the last three contests and is questionable for Wednesday.
3. Toronto earned a 124-110 wins at Minnesota on Dec. 8 as Lowry and DeRozan combined for 52 points.