Milwaukee Bucks: 3 things to watch for hosting the Minnesota Timberwolves

Thrown to the Wolves

A rosy start to the 2019-20 season has given way to an increasingly cloudy outlook in the Land of 10,000 Lakes.

Entering Wednesday night’s game with the Bucks, the Wolves hold a 12-20 record after they defeated the Brooklyn Nets in a 122-115 overtime victory on their home floor Monday night. And winning just a pair of games in December has obviously soured what was supposed to be a fresh start for a Wolves team that’s still searching for direction under the first full year of head coach Ryan Saunders.

Now, it’s important to note that the Wolves have been without their face of the franchise in Karl-Anthony Towns for their last seven games as he’s been sidelined with a left knee sprain that he suffered during Minnesota’s loss to the L.A. Clippers back on December 13.

And interestingly enough, the Wolves have assumed a grind-it-out-type tactic to try and stem the tide without their leading scorer and offensive force. Since Towns has been out with his knee injury, Minnesota have the third-best defensive rating at 101.5 points per 100 possessions and rank just behind the Bucks and the Brooklyn Nets in that department, per NBA.com/stats.

But even so, the consistency, or lack thereof, that the Wolves have shown in the wake of what was a fast and unexpected start to the year has repeated an all-too-familiar story in Minneapolis. And while injuries haven’t helped in that regard, the quest for answers to dig themselves out of the stretch continue to grow with each passing game.

Considering that Towns and Andrew Wiggins are both set to miss the New Year’s Day showdown with the Bucks, things aren’t about to get any easier for the Timberwolves either.