The Minnesota Timberwolves will go for their third straight win when they tip off against the Memphis Grizzlies on Wednesday night in Minneapolis.
The Timberwolves will play on short rest after a 114-105 victory at home against the San Antonio Spurs on Tuesday night. That outcome followed a 101-86 win for Minnesota against the Brooklyn Nets on Saturday night.
The Timberwolves have won six of their past seven games.
Minnesota guard Anthony Edwards’ status for Wednesday is uncertain after he injured his left ankle late in the first half against the Spurs. Edwards crumpled to the ground and clutched his ankle but returned in the second half.
Edwards’ teammates were not surprised to see him battle through the injury.
“I’m never really worried,” center/forward Naz Reid said of Edwards. “He’s tough enough, he’ll come back. That’s kind of like a joke that I always tell with him and Kyle (Anderson), like, ‘You ain’t tired,’ or, ‘You’re not hurt.'”
Edwards finished with a game-high 34 points to go with five rebounds, five assists, four steals and a blocked shot. Reid added 22 points on 8-for-10 shooting from the field.
Minnesota will try to keep its winning streak alive against Memphis, which heads north following back-to-back losses at home against the Los Angeles Clippers and the Nets. The Grizzlies have lost 11 of their past 13 games to fall well out of playoff contention.
Lamar Stevens scored 17 points on 8-for-9 shooting off the bench to lead Memphis in its most recent game, against the Nets. Jaren Jackson Jr. added 15 points and Luke Kennard scored 11.
Stevens said he and his teammates need to learn from their latest defeat.
“I just think it was a lack of energy,” he said after the loss against Brooklyn. “It’s kind of disappointing because that’s something you can control. I think, night in and night out, that’s something we should focus on — controlling what we can control.”
Grizzlies coach Taylor Jenkins said his players needed to do more to score points.
“We were trying, but we were kind of in search mode all night (against the Nets),” Jenkins said. “Just didn’t have anything clicking on the offensive side.”
The Timberwolves could pose another challenge to Memphis as the Grizzlies look to improve offensively. Minnesota has limited opponents to less than 100 points two times in the past four games, and it has excelled on defense all season under coach Chris Finch.
However, Minnesota might face challenges on offense. Edwards’ ankle injury creates uncertainty, and the Timberwolves also have not clarified the status of star center Karl-Anthony Towns for Wednesday.
Towns did not play Tuesday against San Antonio because of personal reasons. It marked only the second time this season that the Timberwolves played without Towns, who is averaging 22.6 points and 8.5 rebounds per game.
This will be the fourth and final meeting of the regular season between the teams. Minnesota has won the first three games, including 119-97 on the road Nov. 26 and 127-103 on the road Dec. 8.
The teams returned to Minnesota on Jan. 18, when the Timberwolves won 118-103. Edwards scored 28 points to lead Minnesota, and Jackson Jr. had 36 points to pace Memphis.
–Field Level Media
