What to watch for in Cleveland Cavaliers vs. Minnesota Timberwolves

The Cleveland Cavaliers (40-22) were unable to complete the comeback against the Atlanta Hawks, but they will get a chance to redeem themselves at home against the Western Conference-leading Minnesota Timberwolves (43-19). Minnesota has won seven of their last ten but will be without star big man Karl-Anthony Towns for this matchup and the foreseeable future.

What: Cleveland Cavaliers vs. Minnesota Timberwolves

When: 7:30 pm EST

Where: Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse - Cleveland, OH

Where to Watch: ESPN, CM43, BSNX

Line: CLE -1

Expected Cavs Starting Lineup: Darius Garland, Isaac Okoro, Georges Niang, Dean Wade, Jarrett Allen

Cavs Injury Report: Donovan Mitchell (knee, OUT), Evan Mobley (ankle, OUT), Ty Jerome (ankle, OUT), Max Strus (knee, OUT), Isaiah Mobley (G League, OUT)

Expected Timberwolves Starting Lineup: Mike Conley, Anthony Edwards, Jaden McDaniels, Kyle Anderson, Rudy Gobert

Timberwolves Injury Report: Karl-Anthony Towns (knee, OUT), Leonard Miller (G League, OUT), Jaylen Clark (knee, OUT)

What to watch for: can we get a little offense?

In the last four games, all without Donovan Mitchell, the most the Cavs have scored is 110 points. That came against the woefully bad Detroit Pistons. Cleveland played some tough teams in the New York Knicks and the Boston Celtics, but they only managed 101 points against the Atlanta Hawks' 28th-ranked defense including a measly 12 points in the fourth quarter. That simply won't get it done, even against bad teams.

The Cavs, for all of their flaws, should have won that game against Atlanta. They shot an exceedingly poor 10-44 (23%) from beyond the arc and allowed the Hawks to turn 13 turnovers into 25 points. That's scoring on every single one of the Cavs’ turnovers. Aside from those two things, the Cavs played about a fine game. Perhaps they were a little drained following the emotionally charged win against the Boston Celtics, but it was a winnable game.

However, the Cavs are extremely banged up. They are going to be down three of their usual starters against the Wolves, affecting both the offense and defense. No Mitchell or Max Strus greatly impacts the shooting. Evan Mobley is out indefinitely with an ankle injury, which is detrimental to the rebounding and defense. There is always pressure on Darius Garland and Jarrett Allen to lead the team, but the ancillary players will be feeling it too.

Dean Wade was great against Boston, but not so much against the Hawks. Isaac Okoro has been a much better shooter this year too, but defenses still sag off of him. Georges Niang has been inconsistent this season and Sam Merrill was 0-9 against Atlanta (2-15 from deep in his last two games). Caris LeVert and his cranky elbow will be crucial to the offense as well. If at least three of those guys play well on offense, the Cavs will be able to weather the storm. If it swings the other way, their margin for error is razor-thin.

One stat to watch for: Outside attack

The Wolves have the number one defense in the NBA, in no small part because of Rudy Gobert patrolling the paint. The Cavs are already missing their premier downhill and rim threat in Mitchell. Given Garland’s...aversion to the rim and inability to finish there anyway, the Cavs may need to resort to an all-out aerial attack. Despite missing two key shooters, Cleveland still has enough guys to fire away from deep. It would behoove the Cavs to keep getting Merrill looks on the move, running him through a series of screens to get a bit of daylight. Garland has to continue being aggressive in shooting the ball, as his ballhandling skills give him the ability to generate space. One of LeVert’s unconscious shooting nights would come in handy at a time like this as well, as he can get hot in about five seconds. He could also shoot the Cavs out of the game if he gets trigger-happy.

The problem is that Minnesota also does not allow many threes, nor do they allow teams to make them. They are more vulnerable from the mid-range, but still allow the fewest mid-range makes per Cleaning the Glass. Without Towns, the Wolves may opt for Naz Reid or Kyle Anderson to fill those minutes, which could force the Cavs to go smaller with Wade as a small-ball center. It might have to be one of those wonky nights for Cleveland if they want to keep the Wolves off balance and win.