2023-24 NBA Regular Season
Utah Jazz v Minnesota Timberwolves
Delta Center
Salt Lake City, Utah
Sunday 17 March 2024
Tip-off at 03:30 CAT
The Minnesota Timberwolves will look to ramp up the pressure on their
NBA Western Conference rivals when they lock horns with the Utah Jazz at the Delta Center on the morning of Sunday, March 17.
The Timberwolves have slipped to third in the standings after losing four of their six games this month and they are a half-game behind Denver Nuggets (2nd) and a further game back to Oklahoma City Thunder (1st).
Chris Finch's team started the first of six games on the road with a 113-111 victory over Indiana Pacers before suffering back-to-back defeats against Cleveland Cavaliers and Los Angeles Lakers.
Karl-Anthony Towns, Rudy Gobert, Kyle Anderson and Monte Morris were all missing for the Northwest Division franchise as they slumped to a 120-109 defeat at the hands of the Lakers on March 11, with Anthony Edwards and Naz Reid scoring 25 points each.
Finch admitted they just couldn't cope with Anthony Davis, who recorded a season-high 25 rebounds, 15 of which came on the defensive side.
"Ball movement dried up a little bit, but really it was the offensive rebounds at the other end of the floor that hurt us more in the fourth," Finch said.
"I felt confident we were able to come back, but so many second shots, and it's difficult at that point... (Davis) should have dominated us. He had size, he had length, he had all that stuff. He was in the paint for seven, eight seconds every time they shot the ball.
The Jazz will have to dig deep in the final month of the regular season if they want to qualify for the play-in tournament after winning just two of their last 10 games.
Will Hardy's team are six games behind Golden State Warriors (10th) in the West with a record of 28-36 following successive defeats to Chicago Bulls and Denver Nuggets.
Utah staged a mini comeback in the 142-121 loss to the Nuggets on March 10, having outscored them 44-24 in the second half after being down 78-44 at the break.
Keyonte George led the scoring for the Jazz with 29 points, but their opponents were on fire from the 3-point line, sinking 19 of the 32 shots attempted beyond the arc.
"I give a lot of credit to the Nuggets," Hardy said. "I mean, 14 of 20 from three in the first half is pretty spectacular.
"And they're a championship level team and when a team shoots the ball from the perimeter like that it's a hard game to win."
Utah Jazz v Minnesota Timberwolves - Head-to-head, Regular Season
Games played: 140
Jazz wins: 90
Timberwolves wins: 50
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