Minnesota @ Detroit preview

Last Meeting ( Feb 3, 2017 ) Minnesota 108, Detroit 116

The Minnesota Timberwolves will try to rebound from an ugly home loss when they visit the Detroit Pistons on Wednesday. Two days after an impressive win at Oklahoma City, the Timberwolves returned home to sustain a 130-107 loss to the Indiana Pacers on Tuesday, allowing the Pacers to shoot a franchise-record 66.7 percent from the floor and getting outscored 69-46 after halftime.

Karl-Anthony Towns scored 28 points in the loss for Minnesota, which played without swingman Jimmy Butler (illness). The Pistons have exchanged wins and losses through their first four games and suffered through their worst offensive showing in Monday's 97-86 loss to Philadelphia. Langston Galloway made 3-of-4 3-pointers off the bench while the rest of Detroit's roster combined to hit 3-of-26 from beyond the arc. "Soon as we started the game, we didn't bring enough energy that we needed to," forward Tobias Harris told reporters. "I think a lot of that had to deal with the ball not going in the basket for us in the first quarter and things of that nature. It's something as a team that we have to build on and be able to be a defense-first team."

TV: 7 p.m. ET, FSN North (Minnesota), FSN Detroit

ABOUT THE TIMBERWOLVES (2-2): Andrew Wiggins had at least 21 points in each of the first three games this season before he was held to seven in Tuesday's loss, his lowest total since he had the same result Nov. 19 at Memphis. Shabazz Muhammad started in place of Butler and had 14 points, but he was part of a starting unit that went 0-for-6 from 3-point range and 5-for-12 from the foul line. Towns has increased his field-goal percentage and scoring total in each game after going 12-for-17 from the field.

ABOUT THE PISTONS (2-2): Harris mentioned a lack of energy early in the loss to the 76ers and Detroit has been outscored by nine points in the first quarter in each of its last two games, a scenario that has coach Stan Van Gundy reconsidering his rotation. "It's a little bit mind-boggling, two games in a row where we really weren’t ready," Van Gundy told reporters. "I didn't think we played as hard we were capable of at the start of the game, so we have to figure that out — whether it's those five guys, changing their mindset or whether we have to change the lineup to get some guys in there who can be ready to go at the beginning of the game." Harris averaged 24.3 points over the first three games of the season before being held to 11 against Philadelphia.

BUZZER BEATERS

1. Pistons C Andre Drummond needs four rebounds to become the sixth player in franchise history to record 5,000 with the team.

2. Timberwolves SG Jamal Crawford is 8-for-15 from beyond the arc and 4-for-16 inside it over the last three games.

3. Detroit has won four straight meetings.

PREDICTION: Pistons 106, Timberwolves 102