Greetings from Target Center.
The Wolves will try to forget about last night's loss in Washington with a better effort against a Clippers team that had a four-game winning streak ended in Memphis Monday night. The Clippers had yesterday off, while the Wolves are playing the back end of a back-to-back.
Some items for tonight's game:
--The Clippers will be without top reserve Matt Barnes tonight because of a sore eye. Clippers coach Doc Rivers wasn't sure pre-game how Barnes minutes would be divvied up.
--Much was made of Rivers having walked nearly to midcourt to call a time out late in the Clippers narrow victory over the Wolves Nov. 11. Wolves president of basketball operations Flip Saunders was giving Rivers – who got the time out and wasn't called for a technical – about it. To which Rivers said, "Flip, of all people? My gosh. When he was over there talking about it, I said, 'Flip, you coached from mid-court. Are you kidding me?' ''
--Rivers on power forwards Kevin Love and Blake Griffin. "We were talking about how often they're compared and how different they are. You couldn't have two more different players. But when you look at just numbers, they look the same.''
-The Wolves will be looking to get more out of shooting guard Kevin Martin, who will be trying to bounce back from Tuesday's 4-for-17 performance.
--Another thing to watch for: turnovers. Washington made the Wolves pay for their turnovers Tuesday. They have to take better care of the ball tonight.
