Are the T’wolves gonna make it after all?

The brutal injury bug that caught Portland in years past has moved on to the Twin Cities, it seems. The Brandon Roy Experiment ended almost as soon as it began. Malcolm Lee was starting at shooting guard in place of Roy before hyperextending his knee. Chase Budinger tore a meniscus. Fans eagerly anticipated the return of Ricky Rubio from a knee injury only to watch him struggle while fighting off back spasms. Now franchise player and super-rebounder Kevin Love has re-fractured a hand and is out indefinitely.

The Timberwolves will try to soldier on tonight against the Atlanta Hawks at the Target Center, striving to climb back above .500 without most of these guys (Rubio will give it a go) as well as Coach Rick Adelman, who is on personal leave. Terry Porter will fill in for Adelman.

The Hawks have had good fortune against the Wolves of late with 12 consecutive victories, last losing by a point in Minnesota on April 9, 2006. Rashad McCants, Mark Blount, and Justin Reed led Minny in scoring on that day, eking out the win over guys like Esteban Batista and Royal Ivey.

The T’wolves have been tops in the league for rebounds per game (46.2), but Love gathered nearly of third of them (14.0). With Love out of commission once again, the rebounding and lead offensive duties will fall upon Nikola Pekovic. Already having a career season with a boost in usage, the Montenegrin responded well in a loss to Portland 3 nights ago (21 points, 15 assists, 2 blocks), and he’ll need consistent help from guys like Derrick Williams (18 points vs. Portland, but not improving much from his rookie year) and Dante Cunningham (career-high 5.3 RPG; league’s third-lowest TO%).

They’ll crash the offensive boards almost out of necessity, as they’re shooting 43.0 FG% (26^th in NBA) and 29.5 3FG% (last in NBA) as a team.

Andrei Kirilenko and Greg Steimsma will try to slow opponents defensively. But they’ll need to stretch out to the perimeter to cool off the Hawks. Portland lit up the Wolves with a season-high (for an opponent) 16 three-pointers.

Rubio’s level of mobility will be interesting to see for T’Wolves fans, as well as for Jeff Teague, who despite 17 points really could get little going for the Hawks’ passing game (4 assists) in that fateful second half against the Celtics on Saturday.

Rubio came off the bench for five games (4.2 PPG, 4.0 APG, 2.4 TO/G, 23.8 FG%) as Adelman carefully monitored his minutes. Luke Ridnour and J.J. Barea still have been more than adequately sharing point guard duties as the staff brings Rubio along. With Devin Harris still sidelined, Lou

Williams will get plenty of minutes countering Minnesota’s enhanced depth at point guard. Williams will also try to counter Russian rookie Alexey Shved, who has scored in double digits in 6 of his last 7 games while also offering a couple double-digit games in assists in that stretch.

Minnesota’s fairly stingy with the personal fouls (18.1 PF/G, 28^th in NBA), so expect a continuation of limited trips to the free throw line. Smarter shot selection by the Hawks than fans saw in the second half versus Boston will help them get the edge once again.

Go Hawks!

~lw3