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Sizzling Spurs face Timberwolves Tuesday night
By: Zach Cohen - StatFox
Published: 12/6/2016  at  7:51:00 AM
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SAN ANTONIO SPURS (17-4)

at MINNESOTA TIMBERWOLVES (6-14)

Tip-off: Tuesday, 8:05 p.m. ET
Line: San Antonio -4.0, Total: 205.5

The Spurs will be going for their fourth straight win when they face the Timberwolves in Minnesota on Tuesday.

San Antonio is coming off of a tough road victory over Milwaukee, as the Spurs escaped with a 97-96 win. They have now won three straight games and 12 of their past 13 coming into this one, and they’ll certainly be feeling good about their chances to pick up a fourth straight. San Antonio was a dominant home team a year ago, but the Spurs are actually 11-0 SU and 8-2 ATS when playing on the road this season. The Timberwolves, meanwhile, are a lousy home team, as they are just 3-6 both SU and ATS when playing in Minnesota on the year. The Timberwolves are, however, coming off of a big 125-100 victory over the Hornets on Saturday. Minnesota was a six-point underdog in that game and the team badly needed a win. It was especially important for the Timberwolves to win that one because they know that it’s going to be very difficult to earn a victory on Tuesday. San Antonio has absolutely dominated this head-to-head series in recent years, as the Spurs have won seven straight games against the Timberwolves SU. They also happened to have covered in six of those contests. The trends in this game are yet another thing that favors San Antonio as Minnesota is just 4-14 ATS in home games after one or more consecutive wins over the past three seasons. It’s worth noting, though, that the Spurs could opt to rest their players after playing a night before.

The Spurs are playing well right now and SF Kawhi Leonard (24.1 PPG, 6.1 RPG, 2.1 SPG) is playing like an MVP this season. Not only is Leonard still the best defender in basketball, but he is also putting up a career high in points per game. He has done that efficiently as well, as Leonard is shooting 45.0% from the floor and 37.7% from the outside this season. It’d also be fair to say that he is struggling from behind the arc, so look for him to get back to the 40% mark in the near future. This game is going to need to be one of his better efforts, though. The Spurs like to rest their starters on the second night of back-to-backs, but Leonard seems to always be out there. He’ll need to be ready to go on both ends of the floor, as his matchup with Wiggins will go a long way in determining the winner of this contest. Two other guys that’ll almost certainly be out there are SG Danny Green (7.5 PPG) and C Dewayne Dedmon (4.3 PPG, 5.5 RPG, 1.4 BPG). Green is a three-and-D wing that’ll be crucial in a game against this young, up-tempo Wolves team. Dedmon, meanwhile, is emerging as one of Gregg Popovich’s favorite players in the frontcourt. If PF LaMarcus Aldridge (17.6 PPG, 6.8 RPG, 1.0 BPG) and C Pau Gasol (11.4 PPG, 7.4 RPG, 1.2 BPG) are rested then Dedmon will have a big role in this one. He is similar to DeAndre Jordan in that he won’t do anything out of his comfort zone offensively, but he is going to defend the rim and clean the glass.

The Wolves snapped their losing streak with a win over the Hornets on Saturday and SF Andrew Wiggins (22.8 PPG) came up big in that game. Wiggins finished that one with 29 points, four assists and three steals on 11-of-20 shooting from the field. He had not been playing well heading into that game so it was big for this Minnesota team to get him going. Wiggins is crucial to this team and he’ll need to find a way to stay effective in his matchup with Leonard on Tuesday. PF Karl-Anthony Towns (22.6 PPG, 10.2 RPG, 1.5 BPG) is, however, the most important player for the Timberwolves. Towns has emerged as a true superstar in his second season in the league and he is now averaging 26.2 PPG, 12.4 RPG and 2.0 BPG over the past five contests. Look for him to stay hot with a big performance against the Spurs, as San Antonio really does not have anybody that can match his blend of size and skill. SG Zach LaVine (19.8 PPG) is, however, the x-factor in this one. LaVine is averaging 23.2 PPG over the past five games for Minnesota and the Wolves will need him to keep scoring moving forward. LaVine does need to defend better, though. He has been lousy on that end and can’t afford to be against this potent Spurs offense.


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