The Utah Jazz defeated the Minnesota Timberwolves by a score of 106-102 Friday night in Utah. The two teams will now head to Minnesota for a rematch of that game on Sunday night. Expect another low scoring game when the two teams take the floor at the Target Center for this game.
The Jazz are one of the hottest teams in the NBA at the moment, winning eight of their last nine games. Utah continues to climb up the standings in the Western Conference, and enter this game with a record of 28-22. Minnesota has been inconsistent all season long, and bring a 24-25 record into this matchup on Sunday night. The Timberwolves are 3.5 point underdogs against the Jazz in this contest.
Wolves Fighting Through Injuries
Injuries have plagued the Timberwolves all season long, and they were without several key players against the Jazz on Friday night. Point guards Derrick Rose and Jeff Teague were out against the Jazz, and their status for this game is up in the air. The Timberwolves struggled to get into offense without their floor leaders, but Minnesota hasn’t been a great offense all season. The Wolves are scoring just 111.7 points per game.
Karl-Anthony Towns is doing all that he can to keep his team in the playoff race. Towns had 33 points and 10 rebounds in the loss to the Jazz and has been a monster since Minnesota traded away Jimmy Butler. He is averaging 22.8 points and 12.3 rebounds per game this season and should be an All-Star this season. Andrew Wiggins is scoring close to 18 points per game, but fans in Minnesota are still waiting for him to put together a full season.
Jazz Still Need More Offense
The Utah Jazz have been winning games with their terrific defense, but they are eventually going to have to start scoring points. The Jazz are scoring just over 108 points per game this season, but are holding opponents to 105. In today’s NBA it is hard to consistently win games without an explosive offense, regardless of how good your defense is. Utah has played well on the road this season, going 13-13 up to this point.
Donovan Mitchell is picking up where he left off a season ago and leads the Jazz with 22.3 points per game. Mitchell does still need some work on his jump shot, as he is making just 33 percent of his three-point attempts. Veteran center Rudy Gobert is pouring in 15 points per game so far, while also leading the team with 13.6 rebounds per game. Utah just needs to find more production from the rest of their roster.
Timberwolves Get Revenge at Home
Minnesota was almost able to pull off a shorthanded victory on the road on Friday night, and they should be able to get revenge in this contest. The Jazz have a much better record than the Timberwolves this season, but Utah doesn’t have a great roster. Look for the Timberwolves to find enough offense to pull away from the Jazz on Sunday night. Bet the Minnesota Timberwolves +3.5 over the Utah Jazz.
