The Minnesota Timberwolves will attempt to win their fifth consecutive game tonight when they take on the Philadelphia 76ers in Philadelphia.
Minnesota has not lost a game since a 109-95 thrashing at the hands of LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers on January 27, and are playing much better since inserting Ryan Hollins into the starting lineup at Center, allowing Kevin Love to come off the bench giving the Wolves some depth by strengthening their second unit. Coach Kurt Rambis has also limited his rotation during the streak, essentially using only nine players on a regular basis. Love, Ramon Sessions, Damien Wilkins and Wayne Ellington have seen a good deal of playing time lately (particularly Love, who regularly plays more minutes than his starting counterpart Hollins, and Sessions who has been getting comparable minutes to starter Jonny Flynn). Meanwhile, the shorter rotation has all but eliminated playing time for Sasha Pavlovic, Oleksy Pecherov, Brian Cardinal and Nate Jawai, strongly indicating that those players are not part of the franchise's future plans.
Aside from the changes in rotation, the Wolves' mini surge has been spurred in part by the mounting confidence and effectiveness of Al Jefferson and Corey Brewer. One year removed from and ACL tear, Jefferson is returning to the 20 ppg, 10 rpg form Wolves fans were used to when he was healthy. On Saturday against Memphis, Jefferson was dominant in the fourth quarter, going 8-8 from the floor and scoring 16 points in the final frame, leading the Wolves to their fourth consecutive victory.
Brewer's offensive emergence has been for more surprising. Once viewed as an offensive liability, Brewer has emerged as a consistent scorer from the wing for Minnesota, and has been surprisingly efficient on the offensive end. Brewer's field goal percentage is still pretty low, but he has been more confident and under control lately, and is starting to show better shot selection. He still needs to work on his outside shooting, but he has at least shown that he is no longer afraid to shoot from behind the three point arc, as he appeared earlier in his career. Though he is only shooting 34% from long distance on the year, Brewer has made 42 three- pointers this year, and has made at least one in every game since January 6. Brewer has also continued to be the best defensive player on the team, though he does suffer the occasional lapse on that end of the floor and is not yet ready to enter the discussion of elite perimeter defenders in the league.
Tipoff for tonight's game is 6:00 Central Time. The Wolves (13-38) will likely stick with the starting lineup that has led them to their four consecutive wins: PG Flynn, SG Brewer, SF Ryan Gomes, PF Jefferson and C Hollins. The Sixers (19-31), also winners of four straight, will likely counter with PG Jrue Holiday, SG Willie Green, SF Andre Igoudala, PF Elton Brand and C Sam Dalembert. PF/SF Thaddeus Young and PG/SG Louis Williams will also see plenty of action off the bench.
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