The Minnesota Timberwolves aren't a very good team. Their 6-17 record is third-worst in the Western Conference -- hard to believe, because 6-17 is pretty bad, but the Kings (5-15) and Clippers (5-18) are worse. The T-wolves are 1-11 on the road this year, the only win coming against the aforementioned Kings in Sacramento. They did win their last outing, a home victory over the nearly equally bad 7-17 Detroit Pistons. The Bulls have won four straight and are 8-2 at home. A no-brainer win for the Bulls, right?
Not so fast. Back-to-backs in the NBA are always tough, even when you're playing both games at home. Professional basketball is a rough sport -- not on the level of football or hockey, but the players bang each other around quite a bit and a day or two of rest is always helpful, even for twenty and thirty something professional athletes who are in much better shape than the rest of us.
That said, it would be a pretty major upset if the T-wolves beat the Bulls tonight. They have two good players -- their leading scorer Michael Beasley, with a 21.5 PPG average, and Kevin Love, who is averaging 20.4 PPG and leading the league with a 15.4 rebounds per game average and also has 18 double-doubles, most in the league. Love has had at least 15 rebounds in nine consecutive games, the longest such run since Ben Wallace did it in 14 straight in 2002-03. so Carlos Boozer and Joakim Noah will have their hands full -- a challenge they should be able to meet. The T-wolves are eighth in the NBA in scoring, but rank 29th in points allowed. Derrick Rose should be able to light up the scoreboard tonight.
It's not a no-brainer, but the Bulls should win this game. It begins at 7 p.m. CST and will be televised on WGN -- both the local and national feeds.