Tonight, the New York Knicks will host Minnesota at Madison Square Garden in New York City in an attempt to sweep the season against the Timberwolves. 7:30 p.m. ET is the scheduled tipoff time. In their first meeting, which took place in Minneapolis on December 19, New York thrashed the Timberwolves 133-107. At home, the Knicks were 3.5 points ahead at the start.
New York will go into the game having defeated the Philadelphia 76ers 125-119 in overtime. Minnesota recently lost to the Golden State Warriors by a single point, 116-115. However, neither team has played well or poorly lately. In their last ten games, both teams are 5-5.
Among the highlights was Donte DiVincenzo, who went 5 for 9 and scored 15 points off the bench against his old squad. He will now go back to the Garden, where he lived for many years. Nickeil Alexander-Walker scored 12 points and shot 5 for 5 from the field, demonstrating his efficiency in that game as well.
In that game at the Garden, the Timberwolves shot 46.1 percent from the field, including 40.5 percent from three-point range. But they also made 61.5 percent of their shots from the charity stripe. The Knicks were able to shoot 51.5 percent from the field, including 44.4 percent from beyond the arc, thanks to the Wolves. It didn't help that they lost the board battle 57-37 since they gave up 16 offensive rebounds to the Knicks.
If the Timberwolves can improve their shooting and make more free throws, they will cover the spread. Randle then has to help the Wolves close the margin on the boards by boxing out.
The Knicks' starters put in a lot of playing time, which may eventually hurt them. The Knicks are doing well enough to finish third in the Eastern Conference and win a lot of games. Upon making his first return to Minnesota, Karl-Anthony Towns dominated them, recording a double-double with 32 points and 20 rebounds while shooting 10 for 12 from the field, including all five of his 3-point attempts. In the end, Towns obviously took pleasure in demolishing the squad that had selected him in front of the city where he had played for many years.
The Timberwolves fell short against the Golden State Warriors, slipping to eighth place in the Western Conference. It's been a rough patch of inconsistent performances for the Wolves lately.
Julius Randle heads back to New York for the first time and is aiming to build on his solid performance last time against the Knicks, where he scored 24 points, grabbed 5 rebounds, and shot 8-for-17 from the field, including 4-for-8 from beyond the arc. Meanwhile, Anthony Edwards hasn't quite lived up to his "closer" role that many expected him to fill after his playoff run. He scored 17 points, shooting 7-for-16 from the floor, with 3-for-7 from three-point range. Jaden McDaniels contributed 8 points, shooting 3-for-8. Unfortunately, Rudy Gobert struggled, finishing with just 3 points and 4 rebounds, hitting only 1-for-4 from the free-throw line.
