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The Wolves face the Kings and Grizzlies midweek before two road games against the Mavericks and Knicks on the weekend.
The Minnesota Timberwolves are just five wins away from matching the total they managed last year in 82 games. Not bad, considering they have only played 32 games so far this season.
They reached .500 with a win over the Houston Rockets on Saturday, and while they are still in last place in the Northwest Division, that is simply because it is by far the best division in the NBA right now.
In any event, they are on the verge of breaking into the top half of the SB Nation NBA Power Rankings, as they came in at 16th.
| 16. | Minnesota Timberwolves | 12-12 | W: HOU x 2, NJ; L: IND | Canis Hoopus |
| While you were busy not paying attention to the NBA, Ricky Rubio arrived from Spain smelling like puppy breath and cinnamon, Kevin Love turned heel and Rick Adelman has gotten this otherwise atrocious roster to .500. Miracles are happening right before our eyes! | ||||
Although Kevin Love has been suspended for two games for stomping on Luis Scola, Minnesota still has a golden opportunity to jump above .500 when they play the Sacramento Kings on Tuesday.
For more on the Wolves, check out Canis Hoopus.
As exciting as the news was that the Minnesota Timberwolves finally managed to hit the .500 mark after so many failed attempts to do so, there's still plenty of work to do for the Wolves if they want to get a playoff spot with only 24 games played so far in the season.
A back to back starts for the Wolves on Tuesday when the Sacramento Kings come to town. Other than rookie Jimmer Fridette, there's not much good to say about the Kings this season; they sit at 8-15 and are apparently getting bids from Seattle to take the team away. Not the most fun time to be a Kings fan, but it could be good for the Wolves. If they can beat Sacramento, they'll be over .500 for the first time since the Bush administration.
Wednesday the Wolves travel out to face the Memphis Grizzlies. The Grizz had a brilliant playoff run last season but have wallowed back down to mediocrity and share the same 12-12 record that the Wolves had.
The weekend brings another back to back, as they go on the road to face the Dallas Mavericks and New York Knicks.
For more on the Wolves, check out Canis Hoopus.
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Timberwolves Schedule 2012: Minnesota Face Dallas, New York On Weekend
The good news for the Wolves is that they were able to get over .500 at some point this season, not something that was expected of them. Even better, they did it after 25 games instead of just being 1-0 and celebrating that. Unfortunately, being without Kevin Love took its toll on the team against the Memphis Grizzlies and they dropped right back down to the mediocre mark. Minnesota get a tough back to back this week to try and boost themselves right back up again.
The back to back starts on Friday as the Wolves face the defending champion Dallas Mavericks. They haven't been having a very 'defending champion' type year at 15-11, and their superstar Dirk Nowitzki himself said that he didn't deserve to get his spot on the All Star game even though it inevitably came for him anyway.
The second leg keeps the Wolves at home again as they face the New York Knicks. The Knicks have way more talent than their 11-15 record shows, and really should be doing better for themselves with guys like Amare Stoudamire and Carmelo Anthony lighting the marquees in the Big Apple. Fortunately, a new star has recently emerged from Taiwan named Jeremy Lin, and he's finally giving the fans in NY something to smile about as his jersey gets torn from shelves.
It's not the easiest weekend for the Wolves, but they can easily eclipse .500 with Kevin Love now back in the lineup against two teams that aren't at their best at the moment.
For more on the Wolves, check out Canis Hoopus.
Feb 10 9:02a by Chris White