The Minnesota Timberwolves and Los Angeles Lakers are matching up on the NBA schedule on Tuesday night and the game is live from the Staples Center starting at 10:30 pm ET on NBATV. Kobe Bryant is 50-50 for the game with a sore shoulder, while Kevin Garnett is going to be out for the Wolves with a knee injury.
Both teams are near the bottom of the west standings, but the Lakers and Wolves each have some strong young talent that they hope will blossom into NBA stars in the future. Karl-Anthony Towns won another rookie of the month award, while Andrew Wiggins has continued to be impressive in year two. The Lakers have D'Angelo Russell and Julius Randle, but both players have struggled with consistency this season for head coach Byron Scott.
The Lakers come into the game with nine wins on the season and they are looking to avoid an 11th straight loss after falling to the Hornets on Sunday. While Bryant has been dealing with a sore shoulder, he had a strong game against the Hornets, putting in 23 points in 23 minutes. The Lakers overall have been struggling on offense and now they get the chance to match up with the Wolves, who come into the game at 14-35 on the season.
The Lakers are last in the west standings, while the Wolves are just a bit higher, tied with the Suns in the 13th spot. Karl-Anthony Towns and D'Angelo Russell were the top two picks in the draft and now they will match up again after playing earlier in the season. Towns has been impressive this season and he is coming off of one of his best performances after scoring 32 points and adding 12 rebounds against the Jazz on Friday. Towns had another double-double against the Blazers and he is currently leading all rookies in that category.
The Wolves come in having lost four straight, so something will have to give between these two teams in the matchup on Tuesday. Zach LaVine comes in averaging over 22 points during the losing streak and he had 35 points in a close loss to the Warriors last week. LaVine's improved play only highlights how the Lakers young point guard has been struggling, as Russell has been averaging less than 10 points per game over his last three games, which has seen him coming off the bench for Scott.
Check here for the Lakers and Timberwolves live coverage.
Check here for the score, stats, play by play and updates from the game.
