What to Watch For: Utah Jazz vs Minnesota Timberwolves
Mike Conley scores over the Minnesota Timberwolves
The Utah Jazz fell to the Minnesota Timberwolves for the second time this season on Saturday night 96-101. They will now travel to Minnesota to take on the Timberwolves once again on Monday.
Jazz vs Timberwolves Throwback:
The 129-game series hasn't even been close, as the Jazz lead the Timberwolves in wins 85-44. The Timberwolves have seemed to have had the Jazz number so far this season, beating them twice at Vivint Smart Home Arena.
Key Players:
Rudy Gobert and Karl Anthony Towns are always an exciting matchup when watching the Jazz and Timberwolves go toe-to-toe.
Rudy Gobert (27) and Karl Anthony Towns (32) will go head to head once again later this evening
Gobert is the current frontrunner for Defensive Player of the Year and has kept the Jazz stout defensively this season. Gobert currently leads the team in rebounds (13.6), field goal percentage (67.1%), and blocks (2.8) per game.
Karl Anthony Towns has one again been a standout player for the Timberwolves this season. He leads his team in points (24.8), rebounds (10.9), and blocks (1.4).
Fun Facts:
The Jazz will wear their white uniforms for their first of a three game road trip against the Minnesota Timberwolves this evening. The Jazz are 15-7 in their association uniforms, and their last win in the jerseys came against the Indiana Pacers on April 16.
The top two frontrunners for Sixth-Man of the Year are Jordan Clarkson and Joe Ingles. You can read more about the race for that award here. The Jazz also have two other post season award frontrunners with Quin Snyder (NBA's Coach of the Year) and Rudy Gobert (Defensive Player of the Year).
Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid have been vocal in their pleadings to win Defensive Player of the Year Award over Jazzman Rudy Gobert. We have written a two-article series comparing the three players, which you can read here: (Ben Simmons vs Rudy Gobert) (Joel Embiid vs Rudy Gobert)
Donovan Mitchell's ankle was re-evaluated before the Jazz game against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Saturday. He remains "out" but will be re-evaluated next week.
Thanks to the Memphis Grizzlies topping the Portland Trail Blazers on Sunday, the Utah Jazz are the first team to secure a spot in the 2021 NBA Playoffs. Utah is still in the race for the number one overall seed and are likely to have a few different teams that they could play in the first round of the playoffs. Read more here.
Jazz guard Mike Conley won an Oscar for Live Action Short Film on Sunday for his work as an executive producer of "Two Distant Strangers".
Conley also broke the 5,000 career assist mark on Saturday against the Timberwolves.
Charles Barkley is starting to believe that the Utah Jazz are contenders to win the NBA Finals. He made his comment on TNT two nights ago, and although his co-hosts weren't as quick to hop on the bandwagon, Barkley stood strong with his opinion. You can read more about it here.
The Jazz will seek revenge for their losses this season as they take on the Minnesota Timberwolves for the second time in three days. The Jazz are 44-16 and remain in first place in the NBA. Utah leads the Phoenix Suns and Los Angeles Clippers by two games in the Western Conference. They also lead the Brooklyn Nets by three and a half games and the Philadelphia 76ers by five games in the Eastern Conference.
The Minnesota Timberwolves are 17-44 and are in second to last place in both the NBA and Western Conference standings. They have officially been eliminated from playoff contention and are 3-2 in their last five games. In that span, they have beaten the Utah Jazz, Sacramento Kings and Miami Heat, while losing to the Sacramento Kings, and Los Angeles Clippers..
Donovan Mitchell (right ankle sprain) is out, and is the only non-season ending injury (Udoka Azubuike) on the Jazz injury report for their game against the Minnesota Timberwolves.
The Timberwolves injury report includes only Malik Beasley (hamstring) who will be out for Monday night's matchup with the Jazz.
How to Consume:
The Utah Jazz will go up against the Minnesota Timberwolves tonight at 6pm MST. Jazz fans can watch the game on AT&T SportsNet, and can also tune into the game on 97.5FM or 1280AM.
Jordan Clarkson (00) dishes a pass against the Minnesota Timberwolves
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