The Minnesota Timberwolves know they are in the mix for a top-six playoff berth in the Western Conference, which would allow them to avoid the play-in tournament.
But it’s too soon to know exactly how the standings will shake out in a tightly packed conference that includes eight teams within 7 1/2 games of one another.
All the Timberwolves can control is their next game. They have won four in a row, and they will try to push their winning streak to five when they tip off against the San Antonio Spurs on Sunday evening in Minneapolis.
“We’re stacking them,” Timberwolves guard Nickeil Alexander-Walker said. “(We’re) heading in the right direction.”
Minnesota is coming off a 106-104 win over the Miami Heat on Friday night. That followed victories against the Charlotte Hornets, Philadelphia 76ers and Phoenix Suns.
The Timberwolves will take on a Spurs team that has lost two of its last three games and six of its last eight. San Antonio is coming off a 127-109 loss against the Sacramento Kings on Friday night, when Spurs guard De’Aaron Fox received a mixed reaction from fans in his first game back against his former team.
Fox has averaged 19.1 points and 6.7 assists per game since joining the Spurs. He has shot 43 percent from the field and 24.4 percent from 3-point range, and he will look to improve upon those numbers when he faces the Timberwolves.
“I haven’t made a shot in two weeks, man,” Fox said after Friday’s loss.
The veteran guard said he could undergo surgery on his left pinky finger in mid-March when the Spurs visit the Los Angeles Lakers on March 17. That would give Fox five more games before undergoing the season-ending procedure.
“We’re shooting for whenever we’re in LA because the doctor’s in LA, so it makes it a lot easier,” Fox said. “The surgery may or may not happen that day.”
Another injured Spurs star, Victor Wembanyama, already has been ruled out for the season because of a deep vein thrombosis in his right shoulder. The big man’s absence leaves Fox as the team’s leading scorer among active players, with Devin Vassell (15.7 points per game) and Stephon Castle (13.4) rounding out the top three.
Minnesota’s top scorer is Anthony Edwards, who is averaging 27.2 points per game on 43.9 percent shooting overall and 40.6 percent shooting from the field. Julius Randle is next with 18.8 points per game and a team-high 7.3 rebounds, and Naz Reid ranks third with 14.8 points per contest.
Edwards finished with 13 points in his most recent game — his second-lowest total of the season — but he helped lead the Timberwolves to victory with 13 rebounds.
“A lot of those were in the air and in traffic,” Timberwolves coach Chris Finch said.
This is the fourth and final matchup of the regular season between the teams.
The Spurs won the first game 113-103 on Nov. 2. The Timberwolves bounced back with a 106-92 win on Dec. 15, and they won again 112-110 on Dec. 29.
–Field Level Media
