Spurs at Timberwolves
The Minnesota Timberwolves look to bounce back from an embarrassing performance when they host the San Antonio Spurs on Friday. Minnesota had a poor defensive showing on Tuesday as it allowed 83 first-half points en route to a 149-107 loss to Philadelphia.
Several Timberwolves blamed a lack of effort for the setback in which the 76ers made 59.8 percent of their shots and 21-of-43 3-point attempts. "We just got to be a rugged team," Minnesota point guard Jeff Teague told reporters. "We can't be a pretty team. I think we're a pretty team right now. And pretty gets us beat by 40 points. We got to be ugly." San Antonio recovered from a 19-point, first-quarter deficit to notch a 105-101 home victory over Dallas on Wednesday. "We spotted them 12 minutes and didn't really compete, just followed them around," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich told reporters. "I thought in the second, third and fourth quarters, we competed."
TV: 8 p.m. ET, ESPN, KMYS (San Antonio), FS North (Minnesota)
ABOUT THE SPURS (26-20): Veteran small forward Rudy Gay (left wrist) returned from a five-game absence and scored 14 points in 22 minutes against Dallas to surpass the 15,000-point mark for his career. "I've been around for a while," Gay, who has recorded 15,004 points, told reporters about reaching the milestone. "I've been through injuries, been on sub-par teams. Being able to still be here and accomplish something like that, I guess it's a pretty big thing. I feel like I have a lot more left." Gay, a 13-year veteran, wore a brace on his ailing wrist and described it as not healed, but good enough to play.
ABOUT THE TIMBERWOLVES (21-23): Karl-Anthony Towns was among the players who struggled against the 76ers as he registered just 13 points and a season-low three rebounds after recording 27 points and a career-high 27 boards against New Orleans in his previous contest. Towns put together nine double-doubles in a 10-game span prior to the uncharacteristic showing. Andrew Wiggins scored just 12 points on 4-of-14 shooting and is a shaky 11-for-35 over his last two games.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. The Spurs are 2-1 against the Timberwolves this season but were trounced 128-89 on the road on Nov. 28.
2. San Antonio backup SG Marco Belinelli (knee) scored 17 points versus Dallas after a one-game absence.
3. Minnesota backup PG Tyus Jones (ankle) will sit out after being injured against Philadelphia.