Wolves aim to avoid slipup vs. lowly Hornets

The Minnesota Timberwolves need to take care of matters against lowly teams, and they will have one such opportunity Wednesday night when they visit the Charlotte Hornets.

Minnesota produced a big fourth quarter on Tuesday in a 126-112 victory against the visiting Philadelphia 76ers. It was a one-game stop at home following four straight road outings, and now it's back on the road for two more games this week.

For Timberwolves coach Chris Finch, the key to the closing stretch of the season will be staying on course. He was concerned about his team's 19 turnovers, which led to 21 points, against the 76ers.

"We can't go back to that type of basketball," Finch said.

The Timberwolves made 18 shots from 3-point range vs. Philadelphia. Seven of the treys came from reserves Donte DiVincenzo and Nickeil Alexander-Walker.

DiVincenzo logged 12 points and eight assists on Tuesday in his fourth game since being sidelined for 19 consecutive games due to a toe injury.

"I think his shot is going in because we're finding him for wide-open ones," Finch said. "He's just kind of doing everything. ... His activity on defense has been great. He's like in midseason form. You'd never know he had six weeks off."

Minnesota has won back-to-back games following a stretch that included six losses in an eight-game span.

Each of the Timberwolves' last five defeats came by a single-digit margin.

The Hornets, who are on a seven-game losing streak, haven't been so competitive.

"Some games, we come out not ready to play. Sometimes we come out a half not ready to play," Charlotte guard Nick Smith Jr. said. "We just got to stick to the game plan and continue to play hard. We can't come out sluggish. We just got to be ready to play and be ready to play defense."

The Hornets lost 119-101 to the visiting Golden State Warriors on Monday despite getting 35 points from Miles Bridges.

Charlotte center Mark Williams continues to provide solid contributions, such as his 12-point, 13-rebound effort against the Warriors.

"Number one, just the consistency of it," Hornets coach Charles Lee said. "He has put up really good numbers. He has done that throughout the year, but I want to see him consistently at that level. Part of it is his force and his physicality."

The Hornets, though, are reaching to all sorts of areas on the depth chart in search of a breakthrough. Rookie Damion Baugh logged 28 minutes off the bench on Monday, and he provided six points, six assists and a surge of energy.

"He plays the game with such bounce and pop, and he carries a basketball around with him all the time," Lee said. "He's just a guy who loves the game, and you feel his energy and his impact on both ends of the floor."

Minnesota's Naz Reid racked up 25 points when the Timberwolves beat the Hornets 114-93 on Nov. 4 in Minneapolis. LaMelo Ball had 19 points for Charlotte in that game.

The Timberwolves have been pretty much the same at home or away. Their road record is 17-15, while they are 17-14 at home.

Both teams might be short-handed in the post on Wednesday. Minnesota's Rudy Gobert hasn't played since Feb. 12 due to a lower back ailment, though he might be ready to return.

The Hornets will have to wait to learn the status of center Taj Gibson, who wasn't available Monday night because of illness. He was listed as probable to face Minnesota.

--Field Level Media