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The Cavs return home and after a much needed off day take on the Minnesota Timberwolves for the first time this season. The Wolves lead the Western Conference with a record of 44-19, second best in the NBA to Boston. They are 21-11 on the road. The game is on ESPN.
Normally this looks like a sure loss with Mitchell, Mobley, and Strus out, but the Cavs have a couple of things going for them. One is that the Wolves played at Indiana Thursday night so they will be on the second night of a back-to-back on the road. Two is that their All-Star C/PF Karl-Anthony Towns is out with a torn knee meniscus, just announced yesterday.
Towns is their second-leading scorer and rebounder at 22 points and 8 rebounds per game. He’s shooting 52% from the field and 42% on 3’s. His injury comes at a perfect time for the Cavaliers since they play this team again in two weeks. Before his injury KAT started 60 of their 62 games.
PG Mike Conley, age 36, is averaging 10.6 points and 6.2 assists in 29 minutes per game. He’s shooting 44% on 3’s.
SG Anthony Edwards is having a tremendous season with a line of 26/5/5. His name has been mentioned as an MVP candidate as he’s the best player on possibly the best team in the West. He also leads in steals at 1.3 per game.
C Rudy Gobert continues to roll along, averaging 14 points, 13 rebounds and 2.1 blocks per game on 65% shooting. He’s one of the league’s elite defenders.
PF Jaden McDaniels and backup C Naz Reid average 10 and 12 points per game. The Wolves are heavily dependent on their starters for scoring; their five usual starters average 83 of the team’s 113 points. With KAT out Kyle Anderson, a career journeyman with a career scoring average of 6.9 points in ten seasons, starts in his spot.
In his last five games Conley is just 13-for-38 from the field and 5-for-22 on 3’s. At 36 he may be getting worn down. He played 30 minutes last night and went 2-for-9. To make things worse, his backup, Monte Morris, is questionable with a hamstring injury after playing just 6 minutes last night.
With KAT out and Conley’s minutes potentially limited due to the back-to-back the Cavs have a chance to steal a win, but it won’t be easy.
Minnesota is hands down the NBA’s best defensive team, allowing 106.5 points per game. Cleveland is second at 109.5 ppg, so these are the league’s two best defenses. It should be a very low scoring game, especially with Mitchell out for the Cavs and KAT out for the Wolves.
After Edwards at 26 ppg and KAT at 22, nobody else on their team averages more than 14, so with KAT out they may have trouble scoring against the league’s second best scoring defense, especially if they are tired from the travel and playing last night.
On offense the Wolves play slow, ranking 24th in pace, 29th in fast break points, and last in field goal attempts per game. They walk the ball up and get into their half court offense. They’re also 26th in turnover rate. But despite taking fewer shots than anybody and committing a lot of turnovers they’re 19th in scoring because they shoot well (10th in effective field goal percentage). They don’t take a lot of 3’s (18th in 3-point rate), but they make the ones they take (3rd in 3-point percentage). That tells me they’re from the Dean Wade school of 3-point shooting - don’t take them if you’re not open, but make the ones you take.
If KAT is out their offense is probably not going to be 19th in scoring and on the second night of a BTB on the road fatigue may be a factor as well.
Last night they played Indiana, who is allowing 122 points per game. The Wolves scored 113. Rudy Gobert played 40 minutes. Anthony Edwards played 39 minutes and took 35 shots. Only 7 of those 35 shots were 3-pointers, so he was attacking the rim relentlessly. He scored 44 points, nobody else had more than 18.
Defensively the Wolves excel in every area except fouling where they rank 18th in opponents’ free throw attempts per possession. They are 1st in effective field goal percentage and 4th in defensive rebound percentage, so they force missed shots and don’t give up second chance points. They are the best at defending 2-point shots, they’re 4th in block percentage, and 9th in forcing turnovers.
They are clearly the best defensive team in the NBA, so without Mitchell and Strus points will be very tough to come by. But without the 7’0”, 248-pound KAT, their defense will not be quite as formidable. However, last night they held Indiana to 111 points at home, where the Pacers are averaging 126, so I expect Minnesota will continue to play great defense even without KAT.
The Wolves are 4th in opponents’ 3-point percentage so they also defend the perimeter very well along with being 2nd best in defending the paint. Maybe try some mid-range shots?
The Cavs’ best bet on offense is to alternate Garland and Porter on 36-year-old Mike Conley. I don’t know if Conley can stay in front of either of them, especially on the second night of a BTB and especially if they rotate in frequently so they’re always fresh. Make him keep chasing Garland and Porter on defense, never letting him rest. Get some blow-bys to force Gobert to defend the layup or floater and then lob it to Allen. Garland should be able to bluff a drive and hit step-backs 3’s against Conley as well.
Conley is just 6’0” so Porter should be able to hit pull-up jumpers against him at will. If they can get Conley out of the game and if Morris can’t go then the Wolves will be fresh out of point guards other than journeyman Jordan McLaughlin, who averages 2.6 ppg.
With a day off and playing at home the 3-pointers will hopefully be falling more than they were at Atlanta where the Cavs were just 10-for-44, especially if they don’t have to shoot them over KAT. The Cavs should push the pace as much as possible and force the T-Wolves to run the floor and try to wear them out. They don’t have scorers on their bench. And getting points in transition before their elite defense can set up will help a lot if they can do it.
The Wolves played a tough game last night at Indianapolis and escaped with a 2-point win. Gobert and Edwards played 40 and 39 minutes and scored half their points. Conley has been ineffective lately and their backup PG is probably out. The Cavs have a chance to steal a win but somebody is going to have to step up and provide some offense against the NBA’s best defense.
Normally this looks like a sure loss with Mitchell, Mobley, and Strus out, but the Cavs have a couple of things going for them. One is that the Wolves played at Indiana Thursday night so they will be on the second night of a back-to-back on the road. Two is that their All-Star C/PF Karl-Anthony Towns is out with a torn knee meniscus, just announced yesterday.
Towns is their second-leading scorer and rebounder at 22 points and 8 rebounds per game. He’s shooting 52% from the field and 42% on 3’s. His injury comes at a perfect time for the Cavaliers since they play this team again in two weeks. Before his injury KAT started 60 of their 62 games.
PG Mike Conley, age 36, is averaging 10.6 points and 6.2 assists in 29 minutes per game. He’s shooting 44% on 3’s.
SG Anthony Edwards is having a tremendous season with a line of 26/5/5. His name has been mentioned as an MVP candidate as he’s the best player on possibly the best team in the West. He also leads in steals at 1.3 per game.
C Rudy Gobert continues to roll along, averaging 14 points, 13 rebounds and 2.1 blocks per game on 65% shooting. He’s one of the league’s elite defenders.
PF Jaden McDaniels and backup C Naz Reid average 10 and 12 points per game. The Wolves are heavily dependent on their starters for scoring; their five usual starters average 83 of the team’s 113 points. With KAT out Kyle Anderson, a career journeyman with a career scoring average of 6.9 points in ten seasons, starts in his spot.
In his last five games Conley is just 13-for-38 from the field and 5-for-22 on 3’s. At 36 he may be getting worn down. He played 30 minutes last night and went 2-for-9. To make things worse, his backup, Monte Morris, is questionable with a hamstring injury after playing just 6 minutes last night.
With KAT out and Conley’s minutes potentially limited due to the back-to-back the Cavs have a chance to steal a win, but it won’t be easy.
Minnesota is hands down the NBA’s best defensive team, allowing 106.5 points per game. Cleveland is second at 109.5 ppg, so these are the league’s two best defenses. It should be a very low scoring game, especially with Mitchell out for the Cavs and KAT out for the Wolves.
After Edwards at 26 ppg and KAT at 22, nobody else on their team averages more than 14, so with KAT out they may have trouble scoring against the league’s second best scoring defense, especially if they are tired from the travel and playing last night.
On offense the Wolves play slow, ranking 24th in pace, 29th in fast break points, and last in field goal attempts per game. They walk the ball up and get into their half court offense. They’re also 26th in turnover rate. But despite taking fewer shots than anybody and committing a lot of turnovers they’re 19th in scoring because they shoot well (10th in effective field goal percentage). They don’t take a lot of 3’s (18th in 3-point rate), but they make the ones they take (3rd in 3-point percentage). That tells me they’re from the Dean Wade school of 3-point shooting - don’t take them if you’re not open, but make the ones you take.
If KAT is out their offense is probably not going to be 19th in scoring and on the second night of a BTB on the road fatigue may be a factor as well.
Last night they played Indiana, who is allowing 122 points per game. The Wolves scored 113. Rudy Gobert played 40 minutes. Anthony Edwards played 39 minutes and took 35 shots. Only 7 of those 35 shots were 3-pointers, so he was attacking the rim relentlessly. He scored 44 points, nobody else had more than 18.
Defensively the Wolves excel in every area except fouling where they rank 18th in opponents’ free throw attempts per possession. They are 1st in effective field goal percentage and 4th in defensive rebound percentage, so they force missed shots and don’t give up second chance points. They are the best at defending 2-point shots, they’re 4th in block percentage, and 9th in forcing turnovers.
They are clearly the best defensive team in the NBA, so without Mitchell and Strus points will be very tough to come by. But without the 7’0”, 248-pound KAT, their defense will not be quite as formidable. However, last night they held Indiana to 111 points at home, where the Pacers are averaging 126, so I expect Minnesota will continue to play great defense even without KAT.
The Wolves are 4th in opponents’ 3-point percentage so they also defend the perimeter very well along with being 2nd best in defending the paint. Maybe try some mid-range shots?
The Cavs’ best bet on offense is to alternate Garland and Porter on 36-year-old Mike Conley. I don’t know if Conley can stay in front of either of them, especially on the second night of a BTB and especially if they rotate in frequently so they’re always fresh. Make him keep chasing Garland and Porter on defense, never letting him rest. Get some blow-bys to force Gobert to defend the layup or floater and then lob it to Allen. Garland should be able to bluff a drive and hit step-backs 3’s against Conley as well.
Conley is just 6’0” so Porter should be able to hit pull-up jumpers against him at will. If they can get Conley out of the game and if Morris can’t go then the Wolves will be fresh out of point guards other than journeyman Jordan McLaughlin, who averages 2.6 ppg.
With a day off and playing at home the 3-pointers will hopefully be falling more than they were at Atlanta where the Cavs were just 10-for-44, especially if they don’t have to shoot them over KAT. The Cavs should push the pace as much as possible and force the T-Wolves to run the floor and try to wear them out. They don’t have scorers on their bench. And getting points in transition before their elite defense can set up will help a lot if they can do it.
The Wolves played a tough game last night at Indianapolis and escaped with a 2-point win. Gobert and Edwards played 40 and 39 minutes and scored half their points. Conley has been ineffective lately and their backup PG is probably out. The Cavs have a chance to steal a win but somebody is going to have to step up and provide some offense against the NBA’s best defense.
