Can you feel it comin' in the air tonight?
Yes, that is the feeling of heat. Hot, hot heat blasting all over the Wizards, from head coach Randy Wittman to the starting five.
After losing their fourth straight last night (at home) to the Golden State Warriors, the Washington Wizards have now nine of 11. Keep in mind the team is also 12-14 on the road, as they play AT Minnesota tonight.
Once considered an elite team in the Eastern Conference, they have free falled to fifth place, two and half games behind the Cleveland Cavaliers and only one and a half games ahead of sixth place Milwaukee.
Woof. Is it panic time in the nation's capitol? A loss tonight at Minnesota could seriously put their season in jeopardy.
When and where? 8 p.m. EST from chilly Minneapolis. Catch it on CSN Washington.
Who's out? Bradley Beal is still sidelined for Washington; this will be his eigth missed game. Minnesota's Gary Neal and Anthony Bennett are both day to day with ankle injuries. Robbie Hummel and Shabazz Muhammad are both out ... But guess what? Kevin Garnett is back.
Are they good? The T-Wolves have had better seasons - at 12-43, they are 5th in the Northwest Division and dead last in the Western Conference. Losers of four of their last 10, they have only won seven games at home all season. However, Kevin Garnett is will put on a Minnesota jersey Wednesday night for the first time in nearly eight years, giving hope that he may be able to help the team that he spent 12 years with, transforming into one of the best power forwards in NBA history.
Meanwhile, in Washington... The Wizards had 26 turnovers last night against Golden State. Who cares that John Wall had his 31st double double or Marcin Gortat had his 16th. Though the team shot a better FG percentage than the Warriors (53.2 percent to 50 percent,) they made seven less threes. They also rebounded (45 to 29) better than Golden State - though they were beat with assists (23 to 27) and steals (4 to 12). The Wizards are allowing an average of 115.7 ppg in their last three.
Perhaps why they're underdogs tonight against the Timberwolves:
Clutch time? The Wizards were good in the clutch. Once.