Gameday preview: Wolves at New Orleans
March 10, 2021 at 11:16PM
7 p.m. at New Orleans • Smoothie King Center • FSN, 830-AM
Season resumes with skid at nine
Wolves update: The Wolves crawled into the NBA All-Star break on a nine-game losing streak that spanned the last four games of Ryan Saunders' tenure and first five of Chris Finch's tenure as coach. The Wolves beat the Pelicans 120-110 on Jan. 23 at Target Center. They won that game without Karl-Anthony Towns and D'Angelo Russell in the lineup. Russell will be out Thursday as he continues his recovery from arthroscopic knee surgery. Malik Beasley will be serving the fourth game of a 12-game suspension. … The Wolves enter the second half of the season with the NBA's third-least efficient offense (105 points per 100 possessions) and sixth-least efficient defense (113.4 points allowed per 100 possessions). The Wolves are the fifth-worst three-point shooting team at 34.6%.
Pelicans update: The Pelicans are 15-21 and tied for 11th in the Western Conference, three games out of the play-in slot at the No. 10 seed. All-Star Zion Williamson is averaging 25.6 points per game on 61% shooting, with 95% of his shot attempts coming from 10 feet or closer. … A season after being the NBA's Most Improved Player, Brandon Ingram is posting similar numbers with 23.9 points on 47% shooting. The Pelicans have the sixth-most efficient offense in the league, but their defense is 29th. One reason for the offensive proficiency is they are the best offensive rebounding team, grabbing 30.5% of all available offensive boards. The Wolves are the worst defensive rebounding team (70.7%).
Chris Hine
about the writer
High-profile victims in Minnesota include Mike Conley of the Timberwolves and Twins co-owner Jim Pohlad.
