The Minnesota Timberwolves will try to bounce back from a home-court loss when they welcome the Charlotte Hornets on Monday night in Minneapolis.
Minnesota is coming off a 102-97 loss against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Saturday night. The Timberwolves led by six points with less than five minutes to go but could not hold on against Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and his Thunder teammates.
Timberwolves veteran Karl-Anthony Towns said the lesson was clear heading into Monday’s game against Charlotte.
“Just be simpler with the game,” Towns said. “Don’t be cute.”
Charlotte is looking for bright spots amid a woeful start to the season. The Hornets have lost 31 of 40 games, including seven of their past eight and 18 of their past 20.
The latest loss, a 97-89 setback against the Philadelphia 76ers, featured a short-handed Hornets team that was playing without injured big men Mark Williams and Nick Richards.
Miles Bridges tallied 25 points and 11 rebounds to lead Charlotte. Rookie Brandon Miller, the No. 2 overall pick in this year’s NBA draft, finished with 23 points.
“Our guys, I thought they played great,” Hornets coach Steve Clifford said. “I mean, to be that short-handed against that team (isn’t easy). … Everybody that played, played well and played hard. It would be hard to find fault with an effort like that.”
Now, the Hornets will try to find a way to slow down a talented Timberwolves team that is led by Anthony Edwards on the perimeter along with Towns and Gobert closer to the rim. Edwards is averaging a team-high 25.9 points per game this season, while Towns is next with 21.6 points per game and Gobert is averaging a double-double with 13.2 points and 12.5 rebounds per contest.
Edwards said he needed to be more careful when he had the ball. He committed a team-high five turnovers in the loss against Oklahoma City, and the Timberwolves finished with 21 turnovers as a group.
“I’ve got to look in the mirror,” Edwards said. “Because it’s me who generates most of the turnovers. … I’m definitely looking at film, trying to figure out, ‘What am I doing?’ The majority comes from me trying to make the right play. It’s not really there. I’ll be better.”
For Charlotte, LaMelo Ball leads the way with 25.1 points per game, but he has been dogged by injuries and sat out against the 76ers because of ankle soreness. Terry Rozier is next on the scoring list with 23.6 points per game, and Bridges is averaging 20.6.
This is the second and final meeting of the regular season between the Timberwolves and Hornets. Minnesota won the first game 123-117 on Dec. 2 in Charlotte.
Towns scored 28 points on 12-for-23 shooting to lead Minnesota in its first game against Charlotte. Gobert added 26 points and 12 rebounds.
Rozier paced the Hornets with 23 points and a team-high seven assists. Bridges finished with 22 points, and P.J. Washington contributed 18 points off the bench.
Minnesota is 17-3 at home. Charlotte is 4-17 on the road.
–Field Level Media