The Minnesota Timberwolves will go for back-to-back victories when they tip off against the Charlotte Hornets on Tuesday night at Minneapolis.
Minnesota is coming off a 129-120 win over the Indiana Pacers on Sunday afternoon. That improved the Timberwolves’ record to three games above .500 at 30-27 with two games left until the NBA All-Star break.
Anthony Edwards hopes to stay hot after scoring a game-high 37 points in the Timberwolves’ most recent game. He made 13 of 25 shots from the field, including 7 of 13 attempts from 3-point range.
A second-year player who was the No. 1 overall pick in 2020, Edwards said he finally felt pain free after battling through a sore knee for the past six weeks.
“When I was dealing with that month and a half, I was super depressed, talking to my girl, just … mad at the world,” Edwards said. “Now, I’m back to 100 percent, I’m back to being a happy kid again.”
The mood is not as happy in Charlotte, where the Hornets have lost seven of their past eight games. They are coming off a 125-118 defeat against the Memphis Grizzlies.
Terry Rozier recorded a double-double with 35 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Hornets. LaMelo Bell added 25 points and new trade addition Montrezl Harrell scored 20 off the bench.
Still, the Hornets could not recover from a 74-43 halftime deficit on their home court.
“We just have to play better,” Hornets head coach James Borrego said. “I don’t know if it is a road-home thing or whatever. We just have to play better. That is the bottom line.”
Ball leads Charlotte with 20.1 points per game to go along with a team-high 7.5 assists. Miles Bridges is averaging 19.7 points per game and Terry Rozier rounds out the top three with 18.8 points per game.
Harrell has been productive in his first two games with Charlotte, which acquired him from the Washington Wizards before last week’s trade deadline. Harrell is averaging 17.5 points and 7.5 boards in those first two contests.
For Minnesota, Karl-Anthony Towns leads the way with 24.1 points and 9.6 rebounds per game. Edwards ranks second with 22.4 points per game, and D’Angelo Russell is averaging 19.1 points to go along with 6.9 assists, which leads the team.
Timberwolves head coach Chris Finch urged his players to stay aggressive heading into the break.
“I’m sure there’s a lot of guys out there that are tired and banged up right now,” Finch said. “But they’re winning games, playing their best and playing hard.”
This is the second and final game of the regular season between the Timberwolves and Hornets.
Charlotte won the first game 133-115 on its home court Nov. 26. Seven Hornets players scored in double digits as the team shot 55.7 percent from the field and a whopping 57.5 percent from beyond the arc.
Towns led the Timberwolves with 25 points in the first game against the Hornets, and Malik Beasley finished with 18 points while making 5 of 11 shots from 3-point range.
