Gametime: 7:30 p.m. EST

Today's Tunes:

Del Tha Funkee Homosapien - "Mistadobalina" (via DelFunkeeHomosapien)

Game Overview:

No Kevin Love. No Nikola Pekovic. No Brandon Roy. No Chase Budinger.

This season has been full of disappointment for Timberwolves fans. Injuries have robbed Minnesota of what could have been a very promising season. Currently they're on a 1-8 skid over the last 9 games.

They defend fairly well but it's no surprise they have trouble scoring. They're mistake-prone and turn the ball over a good bit. With so many injuries, it's hard for them to be a cohesive unit on the court, no doubt. Normally they're also a very good offensive rebounding team but without Pekovic and Love, they're without their two best rebounders.

Minnesota gets a ton of shots at the rim, but like the Bobcats, they're poor finishers there. The two teams are very similar in that regard. But defense is another story. Charlotte can't keep people from getting to the rim, even if opponents don't shoot a great percentage doing so. The Timberwolves don't allow nearly as many shots there but give up one of the highest FG percentages at the bucket. (hoopdata.com)

Ricky Rubio has had a rough time coming off his injury, especially shooting. Like, good GOD, just look at his FG%. TWENTY-FOUR POINT SIX PERCENT. His AST% is just narrowly outpacing his TOV% (33.1 to 31.3 percent).

This team is going to rely on Derrick Williams on offense, which is a scary thing for them. I think it was Mike Prada who put it best last night, saying something like "Derrick Williams would be so awesome if the rim were one inch wider."

And of course, keep an eye on that little bugger J.J. Barea.