Spurs to right road wrongs vs. Wolves
On the heels of an uncharacteristic letdown, San Antonio shoots for a return to normalcy against Minnesota at 8 p.m. ET.
Oddsmakers from online sports book Bovada.lv have installed the Spurs as 10-point favorites on the road. With both teams playing on consecutive evenings, it could be a struggle to reach the over/under of 207 points.
Monday brought a challenge in every conceivable sense for the usually sturdy Southwest Division leaders. San Antonio jacked up a whopping 28 three-pointers, nailing just 14.3 percent of them in a 99-91 loss to Indiana.
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History won’t repeat itself 24 hours later. Prior to last night’s misfire, Gregg Popovich’s veteran-laden group had captured six in a row outside of the Lone Star State.
Popovich, however, remains away from the team to address a family medical situation. Assistant Ettore Messina will instead be tasked with devising a blueprint for neutralizing red-hot Timberwolves rookie Karl-Anthony Towns. Having registered 28 points and 14 rebounds in yesterday’s 108-103 loss at Charlotte, the top overall pick in last year’s draft is elevating his game as others hit the proverbial wall.
Unfortunately for Minnesota, even Towns can’t man all five positions on the floor. The insanely youthful squad permits foes to shoot 46.1 percent. Worse, 15 straight opponents have compiled 100-plus points.
A hobbled Tony Parker (bruised left toe) adds a little intrigue to the proceedings here, but the Spurs simply don’t know how to produce consecutive clunkers. They’ll claim a third straight triumph over the Timberwolves, and in dominant fashion.
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