Tip-off: Monday, 7:00 p.m. ET
Line: Cleveland -13.5

Tyronn Lue will be looking to earn his first victory as Cleveland’s head coach when the Cavaliers host the Timberwolves on Monday.

The Timberwolves hosted the Grizzlies as 3.5-point home underdogs on Saturday and ended up winning the game 106-101. Minnesota had lost its two previous games both SU and ATS, and the team had lost nine of its 10 games before that two-game losing skid. The Bulls, meanwhile, embarrassed the Cavaliers, on Saturday, winning 96-83 as 10.5-point road underdogs. Cleveland will now be looking to win against a very beatable Minnesota team before facing an even worse Phoenix group on Wednesday. These teams met once already this season and the Cavaliers won that game 125-99 as 10-point favorites in Minnesota. Over the past three seasons, Cleveland is 4-1 SU and 3-2 ATS in this head-to-head series. One thing that does favor the Timberwolves in this game is the fact that the team is 7-0 ATS in road games after playing a game as a home underdog this season. As for injuries, PF Kevin Garnett (Knee) is questionable for Minnesota in this one and Cleveland is currently at full strength.

The Timberwolves are coming off of a win over the Grizzlies and SF Andrew Wiggins (20.8 PPG) played a very good game for Minnesota. Wiggins finished that one 7-for-10 from the floor and 5-for-5 from the charity stripe. He had 19 points and five boards and is now shooting 51.9% from the field over the past five games. If he can continue to take good shots then he will become a much better player in the second half of the season. C Karl-Anthony Towns (15.8 PPG, 9.7 RPG, 1.8 BPG) is also playing extremely well for the Timberwolves recently. Over the past five games, Towns is averaging 16.8 PPG, 11.8 RPG and 2.2 BPG in 31.2 MPG. Towns will need to be on his game in this one and it’s likely that he will be, as he had 22 points the last time he faced this Cavaliers team. Another guy that will need to play well for Minnesota is PG Ricky Rubio (9.7 PPG, 8.6 APG, 4.4 RPG, 2.2 SPG). Rubio is averaging 11.5 APG over the past two contests and is really seeing the floor well for the Timberwolves. If he can continue to find his teammates in the right spots then this team should stay competitive, especially against a struggling Cleveland bunch.

The Cavaliers did not look good against the Bulls on Saturday and will now be extra hungry for a win over the Timberwolves on Monday. If Cleveland is going to win this game then SF LeBron James (25.0 PPG, 7.3 RPG, 6.2 APG, 1.4 SPG) will need to play a good game. James finished with 26 points, 13 boards, nine assists and two steals against Chicago, but the superstar was a lousy 11-for-27 from the field and 0-for-5 from three in that one. The Cavaliers need James to play a lot better on Monday and he needs to take better shots in order to do so. Another guy that will need to be on his game on Monday is PF Kevin Love (15.6 PPG, 10.9 RPG). Love should be amped up to play against his former team and he did have 20 points and nine boards the last time he faced the Timberwolves. Tyronn Lue has promised to make Love more of a focal point in this offense moving forward, so it’ll be interesting to see the looks he gets in this one.