The arrival of D’Angelo Russell has reenergized the Minnesota Timberwolves ahead of their Western Conference clash with the Los Angeles Clippers. Minnesota has lost their last 13 straight games, including a recent 127-120 defeat at the hands of the Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday night.
They’ll be looking to avenge an ugly road loss to the Clippers from a week ago. It’ll be a monumental task considering Los Angeles has rolled to three consecutive victories over the Miami Heat, San Antonio Spurs and Timberwolves.
Marcus Morris joins the Clippers
Goodbye, Moe Harkless, and hello, Marcus Morris.
The Clippers completed a three-team trade ahead of the deadline that delivered the former New York Knick to Los Angeles. Morris, 30, is averaging 19.6 points per game this season, putting him in a position to help the Clippers compete right away. While he hasn’t officially been ruled out for Saturday’s game against the Timberwolves, there is a chance the team will hold off on playing him.
There’s no need in rushing him to the floor against the hapless Timberwolves.
It’s going to take more than the addition of Russell to help turn around a defense allowing 115.6 points per game. The star guard isn’t necessarily known for his defensive abilities, and Minnesota will be taking on a Clippers team that has the league’s seventh-ranked offense.
With Paul George finally healthy and reinserted back into the lineup, the Clippers have looked equally as dominant on both ends of the floor. They recently held the Heat to a 43.0 field goal shooting percentage and 111 points. That’s bad news for a struggling Timberwolves offense tasked with stopping both George and Kawhi Leonard.
Clippers guard Patrick Beverley has been ruled out of the game with a groin injury.
Let Towns tell you about his best friend
Karl-Anthony Towns finally turned his frown upside down with the Timberwolves announcing the completed trade for former Golden State Warriors guard D’Angelo Russell. Not only does Russell offer the Timberwolves another elite scoring option, but there’s also the comfort factor of his close personal relationship with Towns.
“It’s surreal to really think that instead of us just talking on the phone or playing video games with each other and talking about how our teams are doing and everything, but now we’re getting to do this every day with each other,” said Towns, via ESPN.com.
Towns and Russell will have the opportunity to put down the video game controllers and go to work as early as Saturday against the Clippers.
The Timberwolves are averaging 43.6 percent shooting from the floor with the fifth-ranked defensive team in the league coming into town for a visit. Russell could miss the game due to a quad ailment, while Jake Layman remains questionable with a toe injury. So it could be another night of bad Timberwolves before we finally get to see Towns with his new teammate.
On the defensive end of the floor, opposing teams are getting buckets on the Timberwolves and barely breaking a sweat. You can rest assured Leonard and George are licking their chops for a chance to feast on offense.
The Timberwolves dropped their 13th consecutive loss to the Hawks on Wednesday.
