by Fairway Jay, team handicapper at www.sportsmemo.com  

After 36 games this season, the Minnesota Timberwolves had a solid record of 20-16. This was a nice improvement for a team that went 33-49 in the 2005-06 season. The T-Wolves had just recorded a big overtime win in Detroit to improve to 20-16 on January 15th. Minnesota appeared poised to gain another win in their next game on January 17th. The T-Wolves were a 9-point home favorite against the Atlanta Hawks. Minnesota was upset by the Hawks by a score of 105-88. This game would be the beginning of a massive free fall for Minnesota. Since the 20-16 start, Minnesota is 8-22. The T-Wolves are a woeful 7-22-1 ATS during this stretch. Since Dwayne Casey was fired after 40 games, the Timberwolves are 8-18 under new head coach Randy Wittman. Despite the slide, Minnesota is only 2 1/2 games out of the final playoff spot in the Western Conference. The Timberwolves will carry an 11-game road losing streak into tonight's game in Sacramento. Minnesota will get to play 9 of their final 16 games at home. 7 of the remaining games will be against winning clubs.

Even with star forward Kevin Garnett (23 ppg., 13 rpg. this season) having another outstanding campaign, the Timberwolves haven't been able to win. None of the other three double figure scorers (Ricky Davis, Mark Blount, and Mike James) is an impact player. The club's lottery draft pick, Randy Foye, has made a contribution with 9 points per game but he isn't a difference maker at this point. Garnett will have the option of going elsewhere after next season. It would seem unlikely that he would want to stay in this situation. With so many quality teams being set for extended runs in the West, things are likely to get worse in Minnesota before they get any better.