Brooklyn Nets vs. Minnesota Timberwolves 01-28-17
Time: Saturday, January 28, 2017, 9:00 PM ET
Venue: Target Center | Minneapolis, MN
TV: YES Network, Fox Sports Go
Projected Starters:
Brooklyn:
Spencer Dinwiddie, Randy Foye, Bojan Bogdanovic, Trevor Booker, Brook Lopez
Minnesota:
Ricky Rubio, Zach LaVine, Andrew Wiggins, Gorgui Dieng, Karl-Anthony Towns
Absences:
Brooklyn:
Minnesota:
None
The Brooklyn Nets have now dropped four games in a row after a hard-fought loss against the defending champion Cavaliers up in Cleveland last night. Losing only 124-116, they put up a respectable performance against a team that was all but certain to come out firing and ready to bulldoze the Nets.
Now, on the back half of their back-to-back, the Brooklyn Nets travel to Minneapolis, Minnesota to take on the young and dangerous Timberwolves team. Despite being 17-29, this team has dangerous weapons that fight hard each and every night.
Arguably the most dangerous of these young stars on Minnesota is Karl-Anthony Towns. KAT is having a great year in his sophomore campaign. He is averaging 22.7 point, 11.9 rebounds, and 1.5 blocks per game this season. He will, without a doubt, be a handful for Brook Lopez and the Nets.
Another star sophomore, Andrew Wiggins, is also having himself a fantastic year. Wiggins is averaging 22.0 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 2.4 assists per game this season. He has started to really develop into that lethal scoring option the Wolves thought they were going to get when they drafted him out of Kansas.
This all goes without mention of Zach LaVine, Ricky Rubio, and Gorgui Dieng. This starting five is ridiculous and extraordinarily young. The eldest member is Ricky Rubio at the ripe age of 26.
Brooklyn will need to be able to keep up with these athletic young guns that the Wolves have stacked up the past few years. They will need their A game down low against Dieng and KAT. They will need their A game in the back court against Wiggins and Rubio and LaVine.
On a plus side, Brooklyn has won most of their games against the Western Conference and this young team could be a solution to their issues. The Nets did beat the Wolves by nine points earlier this season, so it bodes well and radiates good vibes going in.