Preview: San Antonio Spurs at Minnesota Timberwolves – Game #59
Tre Jones and the Spurs will try to end the Rodeo Road Trip in style (Photo via Twitter)
The San Antonio Spurs have reached the final stop of the Rodeo Road Trip. Tonight, the Spurs take on the Minnesota Timberwolves. At 40-17, the T-Wolves are tied with the Oklahoma City Thunder atop the Western Conference standings. San Antonio, on the other hand, is at the bottom of the West with a record of 11-47.
The Spurs have lost four straight games and are 1-7 on this year’s Rodeo Road Trip. Their latest loss was a 128-109 defeat at the hands of the Utah Jazz (see the Grades).
The Timberwolves, conversely, have won five of their last six games. They are led by Anthony Edwards and Karl-Anthony Towns. Edwards averages 26.3 points, 5.4 rebounds and 5.2 assists per game, while Towns averages 22.6 points, 8.5 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game.
This is the fourth and final meeting between the Spurs and Timberwolves. While the T-Wolves lead the season series 2-1, San Antonio won the most recent matchup by a final count of 113-112. In that affair, Victor Wembanyama totaled 23 points, 10 rebounds, six assists, two steals and two blocks.
The Keldon Johnson Watch
After Keldon Johnson made a mistake on defense and carelessly ran into a shooter during the game against the Jazz, head coach Gregg Popovich benched him for the rest of the game. Johnson finished with only four minutes played.
Will Popovich give him another chance tonight? Most likely, he will. Johnson is an important part of the second unit and the coaching staff will undoubtedly be eager to see if the benching will cause the 24-year-old to pay more attention on defense.
San Antonio Spurs Starting Lineup
Despite all the recent losses on the Rodeo Road Trip, expect Popovich to stick with the starting five. That means Tre Jones at point guard, Devin Vassell at shooting guard, Julian Champagnie at small forward, Jeremy Sochan at power forward and Victor Wembanyama at center.
Vassell has been playing really well in the month of February. In ten games, he’s averaging 22.1 points, 4.4 assists and 4.3 rebounds while shooting 47.2% from the field, 44.6% from three-point range and 81.3% from the free throw line.
Betting Guide: Spurs at Timberwolves
The Timberwolves are favored by 13 points and the over/under is 225.5 points. The smart money is on the Timberwolves winning by 14 or more points. Minnesota will be looking for revenge after losing to San Antonio the last time the two teams met. Add in the recent struggles for the Silver and Black and this looks like a very, very difficult game for the Spurs.