Cavaliers at Timberwolves
The demands for roster upgrades for the Cleveland Cavaliers have quieted considerably with the team's play of late. The Cavaliers go for their eighth win in the last 10 games when they visit the Minnesota Timberwolves on Tuesday.
Cleveland's biggest win in the recent stretch was a 125-97 home triumph over Minnesota on Feb. 1 that power forward and former Timberwolves star Kevin Love missed due to back spasms, and the Cavaliers don't plan to have Love available on Tuesday, either. The All-Star felt pain in his left knee during Saturday's 125-109 triumph over the Denver Nuggets and was ruled out for Tuesday after undergoing an evaluation on Sunday. Minnesota's loss at Cleveland on Feb. 1 was the first in a stretch of four straight setbacks but it since took two of three and is coming off a 117-89 drubbing of the Chicago Bulls on Sunday. Budding star Andrew Wiggins led the way with 27 points on 10-of-19 shooting in the win and is averaging 29 points on 58.2 percent shooting over the last three contests.
TV: 8 p.m. ET, NBATV, FSN Ohio (Cleveland), FSN North (Minnesota)
ABOUT THE CAVALIERS (37-16): Love sitting out should allow recently-signed forward Derrick Williams more of a chance to impress his new teammates after he totaled 19 points on 5-of-6 shooting in his first two games with the team since signing a 10-day contract. "He's been in some difficult situations, first of all, and we hope that this is a place that can help him grow and make that next step," Cleveland star LeBron James told reporters of Williams. "He's 25 years old. It doesn't seem like it because we've been hearing his name for so long. But he's 25. He hasn't even gotten to his potential, to his prime yet, so hopefully this group, this locker room, myself, my leadership (helps him)." Williams, a former No. 2 overall draft pick in 2011 from Arizona, is on his fifth team in six seasons.
ABOUT THE TIMBERWOLVES (21-34): Wiggins is second on the team in scoring at an average of 22.6 points and picked up his pace when starting guard Zach LaVine (18.9 points) was lost for the season due to an ACL tear on Feb. 3. Wiggins is averaging 27.4 points in five games without LaVine in the lineup and scored 20 or more in each of the last 13 contests. Reserve small forward Shabazz Muhammad is seeing an uptick in production with LaVine out as well and scored 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting on Friday to reach double figures for the fourth time in the last five games.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Timberwolves SG Brandon Rush is averaging 4.8 points on 29.2 percent shooting in five games while starting in place of LaVine.
2. James is averaging 26.8 points on 61.2 percent shooting and 11.2 assists in six games this month.
3. Cleveland SG Iman Shumpert (sprained left ankle) missed the last three games and is day-to-day.