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Target Center is hosting a seemingly lopsided matchup on Wednesday night, with the San Antonio Spurs (3-16; 7-12-0 ATS) in town for the first time all season. Minneapolis' NBA arena is home to none other than the Minnesota Timberwolves (15-4; 11-8-0 ATS), who are having a great season. These teams met in early November when Minnesota left Texas with a seven-point win. Will the Spurs get revenge, or are the Timberwolves too much to handle?
Last year's Spurs finished last in the Western Conference standings en route to number one overall pick Victor Wembanyama. Winning the draft lottery again may not happen, but San Antonio is getting comfortable as the last-place team in their conference. Their latest loss (the 14th in a row) came by 15 in New Orleans. Securing their first non-Phoenix road win will require overcoming an offensive rating that's 28th in the NBA. Outside of a 65.8% shooting clip at the rim (7th), 79.1% clip at the free throw line (9th), and 69.8% assisted bucket percentage (1st), it's ugly. The Spurs are among the NBA's 10 worst teams in true shooting percentage, turnover percentage, offensive rebounding percentage, and free throw rate. Scoring is an issue in San Antonio.
As is defense, even with Wembanyama averaging the third-most blocks per contest. San Antonio allows 123.9 points per game (28th). They're 27th in defe nsive rating per NBA.com, and defensive rebounding (5th in percentage) is one of their few strengths. San Antonio's foes have a higher effective field goal percentage (57.9%) than they do against any other club. The Spurs are below average at forcing turnovers and sending opponents to the free throw line. This is shaping up to be another rough season.