TV: NBALP Los Angeles Lakers(42-22) @ Minnesota Timberwolves(45-20) Series: Timberwolves lead 2-0 Last Meeting: Timberwolves 97 @ Lakers 84 Previous Game Timberwolves 79 @ Lakers 92 Lakers 117 @ Celtics 109 Streaks Timberwolves: Lost 1 (5-5 in last ten) Lakers: Won 1 (7-3 in last ten) Head Coaches vs. Probable Starters PG: vs. Payton vs. Cassell SG: vs. Bryant vs. Hassell SF: vs. Fox vs. Sprewell PF: vs. Malone vs. Garnett C: vs. O'Neal vs. Olowokandi 6th Men vs. Rush vs. Hudson Players to Watch vs. O'Neal: 22.0 Points (.587 FG %), 3.1 Assists, 10.8 Rebounds Garnett: 24.7 Points (.498 FG %), 5.0 Assists, 13.9 Rebounds Will Not Play Los Angeles Jamal Sampson Minnesota Timberwolves Ndudi Ebi Keys to the Game <u>Los Angeles:</u> <ul> [*]Stop Garnett (Garnett is not happy with the way the team is playing right now, so don't be surprised if he has to take the game into his own hands) [*]Stop the outside attack (The Wolves are an excellent perimeter team. They have threats in Cassell, Sprewell, Szczerbiak, Hoiberg, Hudson, and Garnett) [*]Get Shaq involved early (Olowokandi gets in foul trouble easy, if Shaq abuses him early, Olowokandi will be a non-factor) [*]Hit jump shots (There is a no fly zone down low with Garnett and Olowokandi, so driving is very difficult. They will have to resort to a lot of jumpers, so they must be hot from the outside) [*]Keep Sprewell down (Sprewell has been a really bad slump lately, and when he plays bad, he seems to drag the whole team down with him. But he usually shows up against the Lakers)[/list] <u>Minnesota Timberwolves:</u> <ul> [*]Zone defense (Very critical in this game. Must play solid defense and must make them make bad passes) [*]Get the ball down low (We seem to settle for a lot of jumpers, we need to get it in the post more. It will be hard to get some points down there with Shaq, but the Wolves have two scoring threats to reckon with down low now) [*]Make Karl take shots (He may be a little rusty, so he is the weak link to the Lakers right now. Make him shoot from the outside, and he should have a difficult time) [*]Rebound (Getting rebounds is always good) [*]Get a good rotation (This is a main reason for our slump. Flip needs to figure out how to handle deep teams such as our own. He seems to not know when to take guys out or leave guys in) [/list] twolvefan11's Prediction True. The Timberwolves have been in a slump recently, but they seem to show up against contenders. They seem to not even care about playing against teams like Philadelphia and Boston. So in order for the Wolves to win this one, we must be prepared. I'm going out on a limb and saying Timberwolves by 4.
Nice preview Twolvesfan11, It would be great if KG could get alot of work done on the low block, but I really dont see alot of space in the post for KG to operate with both Shaq & Karl Malone down there. He going to have to draw them out with his mid range jumper. Put Shaq in alot of Pick & Roll situations. Shaq hates guarding it. Flip has to be smart with his rotation. He can't take Sam out with 2 or 3 minutes left in the 1st & not bring him back until the middle of the 2nd. After long rest periods on the bench Sam is having a hard time finding his shooting rhythem. And the Wolves are going to need a big scoring out put from him help to counter act what Kobe, Shaq, GP are going to bring in the scoring column. No room for long rest periods against the Lakers cause they will go on big scoring runs at a moment notice. Troy Hudson needs to worry about getting others in the 2nd unit involved instead of just getting his own shot off. He will be in the game with Wally & Fred, they need him to create shots for them. Troy hudson assist # havent been good enuff imo. Get Sprewell off early, Sprewell needs to get his game going early toward the basket instead of just taking 20 foot jumpers. When sprewell is aggressive going toward the basket he gets the opposing team in foul trouble.And the wolves attempt alot more free throws. Trenton Hassell has another difficult assignment with Kobe. But the Bigmen have to help with weakside help. Against Ray Allen on tuesday, I think the weakside help was extremely late. Ray Allen was able to get all the way to the basket without any backline defensive help for trenton. Use Ervin Johnson in this game. I don't think using Madsen at the backup 5 spot is going to be effective against LA especially with Shaq having Karl back in the low post to help him. Ervin Johnson is a good help defender as far as changing shots from the weakside which the wolves will need against kobe. LA just has to much size to use Madsen as the backup center. Bench points, the wolves have not been getting alot of bench points in recent games. This game might just come down to who's 2nd unit produces more. The Lakers over the season have developed a solid bench due to injuries. Kareem Rush, Derek Fisher, Mavidenko, etc have all proven they can produce. It will be up to Wally, troy, Fred, Maddog to produce solid bench points. Especially early in the second when Flip for some reason likes to sit all of the big 3 at once. Early 2nd will be a crucial point, alot of teams have made runs on the wolves during this time in the last few games.
You can add Horace Grant to the players not playing for the Lakers (bad hip) Anyways, this should be a great game, with the Lakers winnning a close one on the road, possibly in OT.
Karl Malone is back , he will play about 15 - 20 mins so he won't be a big factor I still can't wait to see him play it should be a very good game at what time is it? anyways , no pick for this one but whoever wins will be by not more than 8 pts.
The Lakers should be able to win this one. With the Big Four finally together again, it should provide some spark and a boost of confidence. And with Minnesota struggling, the advantage goes to the Lakers. Lakers by 6.
Nice preview man, I think that the mailman aren't going much in between 15-20 min like TMac_OwNz said, but The T-Wolves had a losing streak so I hope they use the lost to revenge on this match. I say T-Wolves by 5+. Good luck guys.
The T-Wolves have looked a little shaky lately, and the Lakers are getting some big guy's back, but I'm going to go against the odds and pick the Wolves in this one. with KG, Cassell, Spre, and Kandi the Wolves should have almost everything covered. If we can keep Shaq guarded, and get some boards we should be fine. In a very close and exciting game I say the Wolves win by 3
45/41 Wolves at half. The Wolves are spreading the ball nicely getting everyone the ball, but they need to stay agressive for the rest of the game. Shaq has a double double, and is leading the Lakers. If the Wolves can shut him down the Lakers will need to find someone else to score for them. Good first half by the Wolves, hope they can keep it up.
Wolves win by 10. I told you we would kick their asses. KG came up big again, but T-Hud was awesome too.
Timberwolves 96, Lakers 86 Garnett had a usual game, as did Cassell and Sprewell. Garnett finished with 20 points and 13 rebounds, Cassell finished with 17 points and 7 assists, and Sprewell finished with 16 points and 6 rebounds. Hudson decided to show up and give a great spark off the bench today, finishing with 19 points, shooting 4-6 from three point land. On the other side, Shaq finished with 24 points and 13 rebounds, Kobe finished with 16 points and 11 rebounds, Payton with 10 points and 6 assists, and in his first game back from a 29 game absence, Karl Malone finished with 13 points in 21 minutes. The Wolves were just hot from the field today, and they deserved this win. Box Score
The Wolves win by 10!Great win for the wolves.The big 3 is back.They all played great.Troy also was great coming of the bench.Great game.The wolves are playing better now.
Great win by the Wolves. They moved the ball great the whole night. This game showed me that they can beat great team, and do have the ability to win the championship this year, great win by the Wolves.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Henacy:</div><div class="quote_post">Nice preview Twolvesfan11, It would be great if KG could get alot of work done on the low block, but I really dont see alot of space in the post for KG to operate with both Shaq & Karl Malone down there. He going to have to draw them out with his mid range jumper. Put Shaq in alot of Pick & Roll situations. Shaq hates guarding it. Flip has to be smart with his rotation. He can't take Sam out with 2 or 3 minutes left in the 1st & not bring him back until the middle of the 2nd. After long rest periods on the bench Sam is having a hard time finding his shooting rhythem. And the Wolves are going to need a big scoring out put from him help to counter act what Kobe, Shaq, GP are going to bring in the scoring column. No room for long rest periods against the Lakers cause they will go on big scoring runs at a moment notice. Troy Hudson needs to worry about getting others in the 2nd unit involved instead of just getting his own shot off. He will be in the game with Wally & Fred, they need him to create shots for them. Troy hudson assist # havent been good enuff imo. Get Sprewell off early, Sprewell needs to get his game going early toward the basket instead of just taking 20 foot jumpers. When sprewell is aggressive going toward the basket he gets the opposing team in foul trouble.And the wolves attempt alot more free throws. Trenton Hassell has another difficult assignment with Kobe. But the Bigmen have to help with weakside help. Against Ray Allen on tuesday, I think the weakside help was extremely late. Ray Allen was able to get all the way to the basket without any backline defensive help for trenton. Use Ervin Johnson in this game. I don't think using Madsen at the backup 5 spot is going to be effective against LA especially with Shaq having Karl back in the low post to help him. Ervin Johnson is a good help defender as far as changing shots from the weakside which the wolves will need against kobe. LA just has to much size to use Madsen as the backup center. Bench points, the wolves have not been getting alot of bench points in recent games. This game might just come down to who's 2nd unit produces more. The Lakers over the season have developed a solid bench due to injuries. Kareem Rush, Derek Fisher, Mavidenko, etc have all proven they can produce. It will be up to Wally, troy, Fred, Maddog to produce solid bench points. Especially early in the second when Flip for some reason likes to sit all of the big 3 at once. Early 2nd will be a crucial point, alot of teams have made runs on the wolves during this time in the last few games.</div> All of these things occured so the wolves won. I think Flip should get some credit for the adjustments he made. I not going to go thru all of them but these were the ones that stood out to me. #1 He didnt over rest Sam like he has been doing. when he took Sam out toward the end of the 1st, he put him back in the game with over 9:00 minutes to play in the second. Instead of keeping him out half of the second quarter like he has been doing. Sam had alot more rythem because of it. #2 Flip used EJ as the 1st bigman off the bench at the 5 spot. Evrin Johnson is the best of the wolves center at giving weak side help on penetration. Kobe & GP were met at the basket with some type of resistence on most of their penetrations. Thats what EJ brings when he is in the game. And Flip noticed that he couldnt get away with playing maddog at the 5 for long periods, smart decision by Flip. EJ has to stay apart of the rotation because of what he brings on D. #3 In another post I said that he had to choose who he was going to use at the backup 4. And then shorten the rotation at that position. Well Flip decided on Maddog & he allowed him to play alll the backup minutes at the PF. He didnt switch back & forward with him & Gary. Maddog was really in the flow of the game.
The title for tonight's game was Unsung Heroes Night. 1. Trenton Hassell utterly shut Kobe down in the first half. He & Spree combined to harass Kobe in the 2nd half, too, with Spree getting a sweet steal against Kobe along the sideline one time & slamming the ball over Kobe on the fastbreak another. Trenton's shut Kobe down twice this season now. This is getting routine almost. Still, it's definitely appreciated in these parts. 2. THud blew the game open with his shooting. Whenever the T'Wolves & Lakers meet, it's like you can just expect THud to go off. Their guards play pathetic defense against him. He can take them whenever he wants because he's so much faster AND quicker than Payton & Fisher. 3. Mad Dog's defense against Shaq down the stretch was a thing of beauty. Mad Dog's a battler & he knows Shaq's moves so well, which give him a big edge, IMHO. I'd be wrong, though, to not mention the job the MV3 did last night. KG didn't have a monster game but he put up solid numbers & took his guy pretty much whenever he wanted. Spree got out in the open court a few times & scored. He also used a couple KG picks to get some open looks & put up some nice numbers. Sammy scored 17 but he was terrific in running the point. He also gave Payton a ton of grief with his defense. Payton's definitely frustrated & Sam added to that last night. Finally, the Laker bench doesn't exist. It's so thin that Shaq played 34 of the possible 36 minutes during the first 3 quarters. When it came time to go to work down the stretch, he didn't have anything left in the tank & only grabbed a single rebound in the 4th quarter. A couple times, we got multiple chances with offensive boards that a fresher Shaq would've likely grabbed. Derek Fisher used to be satisfactory but he's over-aged now & it showed against Troy. Slava played ok but he doesn't contribute alot on a consistent basis. Ultimately, my prediction is that the Lakers don't win any titles because their bench will force the vets to play way too many minutes in the playoffs. Their bench is their weakest spot but Malone, Payton & Kobe don't look that great, either.
