It’s amazing how much of a difference one season can make. At this time last year, the Los Angeles Clippers and Minnesota Timberwolves were the laughingstocks of the Western Conference. Now, the Clippers are contenders and the Timberwolves are fighting for a playoff berth.
Coming off their All-Star appearances, Kevin Love and Blake Griffin – the two best power forwards in the game – go head to head for the second time this season as the Timberwolves (17-17) visits the Clippers (20-11). Griffin and Love are the league’s only power forwards averaging at least 21 points and 11 rebounds per game.
Minnesota has won four of five but begins a difficult schedule with four road games in five nights. The Timberwolves are just 1-6 when they play with no days rest on the road.
The Clippers have a daunting schedule of their own, playing 20 games in 31 days.
The last time the teams met on Jan. 20, Love, averaging 25 points and 14 rebounds, hit a game winning 3-pointer at the buzzer after Ricky Rubio tied the game with a 3-pointer of his own. Both teams have tweaked their lineups since.
The Clippers start Randy Foye in place of the injured Chauncey Billups, while Chris Paul and Caron Butler will be in uniform after missing the last meeting due to injuries.
Minnesota received a huge contribution from Darko Milicic, who scored 22 points and helped limit Griffin to 7-of-17 shooting. But Milicic has been replaced in the starting lineup by the immovable Nikola Pekovic, who has averaged 17.2 points and 10.4 rebounds in February.
Paul, coming off a season-high 36 points, will get his first look at Rubio, the rookie sensation who has been on a roll as of late, averaging 15.8 points and 6.3 assists in his last four games. Paul has an NBA-best 35 straight games with at least one steal, but his 2.3 per game still trails Rubio’s 2.4, the second best mark in the league.
Griffin leads the NBA with 93 total dunks. The entire Timberwolves roster has 117, led by Pekovic’s 23.