Timberwolves at Jazz
The Utah Jazz are attempting to hold on to the No. 4 seed in the Western Conference and can better their chances when they host the Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday. Utah is one-half game ahead of the Los Angeles Clippers for homecourt advantage in the first round but has a tough slate to end the regular season, as it visits Portland and top-seeded Golden State while hosting second-seeded San Antonio.
The Jazz have won four of their last five games despite some injury absences, and coach Quin Snyder is striving to see the hot play continue down the stretch. "You want to be playing well and be confident going in, so there's a lot of different factors," Snyder told reporters about having an eye on the postseason. "In my mind, the best thing for us to do is take each game at a time and whoever's ready to go, put them out there and try to play as well as we can." The Timberwolves experienced another fourth-quarter collapse in Thursday's 105-98 loss to Portland as they fell for an NBA-high 21st time after leading by double digits at some point during the game. Minnesota was a woeful 3-of-23 shooting in the fourth quarter while being outscored 25-11.
TV: 9 p.m. ET, FSN North Plus (Minnesota), ROOT (Utah)
ABOUT THE TIMBERWOLVES (31-47): Minnesota needs to split its final four games to avoid its third straight 50-loss campaign and fourth in five seasons. Small forward Andrew Wiggins certainly is finishing the season strong as he scored 36 points in the loss to Portland and is averaging 29.8 over the past five games. Center Karl-Anthony Towns recorded his 58th double-double of the season with 24 points and 16 rebounds against Portland and is averaging 29 over the last six contests.
ABOUT THE JAZZ (48-30): Point guard George Hill (groin) is listed as doubtful and could miss his fifth straight game as his first campaign in Utah has been littered with injuries. Hill has played in just 47 games while missing time with a sprained right thumb, two separate toe injuries and a concussion in addition to the current malady. "George has been great for us on both ends," Jazz center Rudy Gobert told reporters. "Hopefully, he's going to be back pretty soon, but we really need him 100 percent for the playoffs."
BUZZER BEATERS
1. The Timberwolves rolled to a 107-80 road win over the Jazz on March 1 to halt a five-game losing streak in the series.
2. Minnesota PG Ricky Rubio scored 19 points versus Portland for his eight straight double-digit effort.
3. Utah PF Derrick Favors (knee) missed 14 straight games but has been upgraded to questionable and SG Rodney Hood (knee) also is questionable after missing Tuesday's win over Portland.