Our NBA Tuesday night focus turns to Minnesota, where the Wolves are gaining steam in the Western Conference. They take on the Norman Powell-led Miami Heat team in a game that has true shootout potential.
Look for a back-and-forth battle between Norman Powell and Anthony Edwards there, while Tre Johnson is starting to heat up for the Wizards.
The Ant Man takes on Miami as the Wolves look to extend their winning streak. Edwards shot 2 of 8 from deep against the Heat in their January 3rd matchup and followed that up with six threes against Washington the night after.
In December, Edwards shot 7.7 threes per contest while the Wolves looked to him for playmaking and scoring, with Conley taking a lesser role within the offense. Against a Miami team that scores in chunks and sits among the top offenses in the league, expect a Minnesota shootout tonight where Edwards could go nuclear.
The rookie out of Texas has been somewhat underappreciated among this incredible rookie class that is filled with stars. Johnson averaged a commendable 13.2 PPG in just 22.3 MPG in the month of December.
Over his last five games has shot 14 of 25 from downtown, which marks the best shooting stretch of his young career. As his minutes go up, I expect Tre to have the green light moving forward, as the Wizards have started to find their offensive momentum as of late.
Norman Powell has been a revelation for this Miami Heat team that has searched for offensive production over the last few seasons. Norm is averaging 30.3 PPG since the new year while shooting 57/56/88 splits.
He is a premier scorer in the East and facing a Minnesota team that has struggled to defend opposing combo guards at times this season, Powell has a great matchup ahead as this could turn into a real shootout.
Though he scored 21 points in Saturday’s matchup against the Wolves, he only shot the ball 13 times with just six attempts from deep. Expect those numbers to rise tonight.