The Minnesota Timberwolves have not won back-to-back games since early February.
Minnesota has a chance to change that fact when it tips off against the Philadelphia 76ers on Tuesday night in Minneapolis. The Timberwolves are coming off a 116-98 victory on the road against the Phoenix Suns on Sunday night.
The win coincided with the return of Timberwolves forward Julius Randle. He will look to stay hot after scoring 20 points on 8-for-14 shooting against Phoenix.
Timberwolves leading scorer Anthony Edwards said he and his teammates should give credit to coach Chris Finch for the team’s improved play.
“‘Finchy’ said some great things (before our last game) about just being a team, not letting anything make us dysfunctional and draw us away from each other,” Edwards said. “I think we took what he said and carried it over to the game (against Phoenix).”
Philadelphia will play on short rest after losing 119-102 at home against the Portland Trail Blazers on Monday night. The 76ers were outscored 63-41 in the second half.
Top scorer Tyrese Maxey is uncertain to play after sustaining a back injury on Monday night. Maxey tried to drive to the baseline for a layup and fell against the hardwood after drawing contact.
Sixers coach Nick Nurse said Maxey’s status against Minnesota was uncertain.
“He had a lower-back contusion,” Nurse said. “Had a couple doctors check him out. At this point, nothing too serious. They did say that could change in the morning. But hopefully not. He is going to travel. They’re going to, as of now, list him day-to-day.”
Nurse acknowledged that the 76ers’ injury woes seem to keep growing.
“I’ve just always (thought it has) been really helpful that things will balance out, that at some point the injury bug will leave us or the injury cloud will leave us, and it just doesn’t seem to, right?” Nurse said. “It’s disappointing first and foremost for the players but obviously it’s been a lot and not easy to deal with.
“But it’s like I told the guys: They played some really good basketball at times (Monday night), and we’ve got to shake it off and get out of here as quick as we can, get there and rest up (Tuesday) and get ready to try and figure out how to play again.”
Maxey leads the 76ers with 26.3 points per game on 43.7 percent shooting overall and 33.7 percent shooting from 3-point range. Second-leading scorer Joel Embiid (23.8 points per game) has been ruled out for the rest of the season because of a left knee injury.
Edwards leads the Timberwolves with 27.6 points per game. He is shooting 43.9 percent overall and 40.6 percent from beyond the 3-point line.
Randle is next with 18.9 points per game, and Naz Reid rounds out the top three scorers with 14.7 points per contest.
This is the first of two regular-season meetings between the teams. They also are scheduled to square off April 5 in Philadelphia.
–Field Level Media
