Utah @ Minnesota preview

Last Meeting ( Nov 18, 2019 ) Minnesota 112, Utah 102

Karl-Anthony Towns put on quite a show against Utah in the front end of the back-to-back and now the standout center looks to lead the Minnesota Timberwolves to a sweep of the visiting Jazz on Wednesday. Towns matched his career high of seven 3-pointers and had 29 points and 13 rebounds to lead Minnesota to a 112-102 win on Monday in Salt Lake City.

Towns' big game was welcomed with small forward Andrew Wiggins sidelined for the third straight game - Monday due to illness after missing two due to a personal matter. Wiggins expected to rejoin the team for Wednesday's home game and he is on a superb streak of seven straight 20-point outings, four in which he tallied 30 or more. Utah has dropped back-to-back games and is beginning a stretch in which six of its next eight games are on the road. Star shooting guard Donovan Mitchell was an anemic 5-of-23 shooting during Monday's loss while scoring 17 points.

TV: 8 p.m. ET, AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain (Utah), FS North (Minnesota)

ABOUT THE JAZZ (8-5): Utah shot just 36.5 percent from the field - including 12-of-31 from 3-point range - and was exceptionally poor in the final quarter when it was 7-of-26 from the field. "We started to do it individually instead of moving the ball. I took some terrible shots," Mitchell told reporters after his second-lowest scoring output of the campaign. Forward Bojan Bogdanovic scored a team-best 18 points on 7-of-17 shooting and he is just 22-of-60 during a four-game shooting funk.

ABOUT THE TIMBERWOLVES (8-6): Towns launched 15 3-point attempts in Monday's victory in a plan designed to help neutralize the defensive abilities of Utah center Rudy Gobert. "Karl is a talent that can play inside and out and Rudy Gobert is an incredible defensive catalyst," Minnesota coach Ryan Saunders told reporters afterward. "So you want to do your best to keep him away from the basket as much as possible." Point guard Jeff Teague matched his season best of 21 points and also had 11 assists for his third straight double-digit output in the latter category.

BUZZER BEATERS

1. The Timberwolves halted a three-game losing streak against the Jazz with Monday's win.

2. Gobert had 16 points and 14 rebounds on Monday for his fourth straight double-double and seventh in eight games.

3. Minnesota rookie reserve SF Kelan Martin took advantage of Wiggins' absence by scoring 14 points on 6-of-7 shooting in 24 minutes on Monday.

PREDICTION: Jazz 108, Timberwolves 104