The San Antonio Spurs will look to start a new winning streak as they square off against the Minnesota Timberwolves Wednesday night on the road.
The Spurs have won 14 of their last 15 meetings with the Timberwolves, but a win won’t be so easy to come by this go around. Minnesota isn’t the same team they faced in the season opener and San Antonio has struggled mightily on the road this year.
Logically, it would make sense for a team to plummet when losing a superstar like Jimmy Butler. However, that’s been far from the case for Minnesota.
Since the controversial departure of Jimmy Buckets, the T-Wolves are 6-2 and have clawed their way back into the Western Conference playoff picture. Karl-Anthony Towns is playing like an All-Star again and a resurgent Derrick Rose has stunned the NBA once more.
While slowing those two down will be key for San Antonio to pick up a victory on the road, their troubles don’t stop there. The trio of Andrew Wiggins, Robert Covington, and Dario Saric can catch fire in the blink of an eye and containing them won’t be a simple task.
Although the Spurs must gameplan for Minnesota’s many weapons, their greatest threat is themselves. Four of their last six losses have come at the hands of blown fourth-quarter leads and San Antonio hasn’t performed well in crunch time.
Monday night’s matchup was seconds away from another final frame meltdown. The Spurs narrowly edged out the Chicago Bulls, but San Antonio deserved to lose with the way they closed the game out.
Poor defensive play down the stretch hasn’t helped their cause, but a lot of their woes have stemmed from the injury bug. The Spurs have rarely been 100% healthy this season and injuries have forced several lineup changes.
Unfortunately, inconsistent lineups have caused inconsistent results. And all of that inconsistent production has thrown the Spurs off their rhythm.
San Antonio has failed to win back-to-back games since the start of November and the Timberwolves aren’t going to roll over and hand them a dub. The Spurs are going to need 48 minutes of all-out effort from the first tip to the final buzzer if they hope to steal a win on the road.
San Antonio’s success starts with LaMarcus Aldridge and DeMar DeRozan, but the rest of the roster must show up too. Though the bench has played well in spurts, the second unit will be integral to taking down the Timberwolves.
The Spurs will have a chance to push their record above .500 for the first time since November 18. The season is still young and San Antonio could finally create some momentum by picking up a second straight win on this road trip.
Viewing details for the game are below:
Date: Wednesday, Nov. 28 Time: 7:00 p.m. CST Location: Minneapolis, MN Venue: Target Center TV Info: FSNTH, FSSW-SA Live Stream: FuboTV
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