The Utah Jazz (15-52) pay a visit to the red-hot Minnesota Timberwolves (39-29) on Sunday (7 ET, League Pass). Utah has been eliminated from playoff contention, but the seventh place Wolves have now won seven consecutive games as they keep pace with the Warriors for the No. 6 seed in the West.
Here are five things to know before tip-off:
1. Isaiah Collier’s growth: Utah’s rookie first-rounder has played his best basketball in the last month and a half after earning his way into the starting lineup. Since the start of February, Collier is averaging 11.6 points, 3.8 rebounds, 8.2 assists and 1.0 steals in 30.4 minutes, recording seven double-doubles in that stretch. He’s an explosive athlete who likes to get downhill and drive to the basket. In his last outing against Minnesota on Feb. 28, Collier played 30 minutes and finished with 11 points and a career-high 14 assists in the one-point victory.
2. Brice Sensabaugh is lighting it up: Sensabaugh is another young Jazz player who’s starting to put a consistent stretch of nice performances. Sensabaugh has been potent off the Utah bench since the All-Star break, putting up 14.1 points, 3.3 rebounds and 1.9 assists while shooting 47.0% from the field and 46.2% from three in 24.0 minutes a night.
3. Utah on the glass: The Jazz are relentless when it comes to rebounding the ball. They rank third in the NBA in rebounding by pulling down 46.0 boards a night, and grab the seventh-most offensive rebounds (12.3). The hustle on the glass translates to more opportunities, where Utah’s 15.0 second chance points per game is the eighth-best figure in the league. In the win over the Wolves at the end of February, the Jazz held a 60-40 advantage in total rebounds.
4. Minnesota’s offense, defense up to the challenge: The Timberwolves have gotten healthier during the course of their seven-game win streak, with Julius Randle and Rudy Gobert both returning from multi-game absences along the way. Minnesota’s sixth-ranked defense (110.7 rating) on the season has been even better during their streak (109.9 rating), but it’s been their offense leading the way. The offensive rating of 123.3 ranks third in this stretch, nearly ten points better than the season-long rating of 114.6.
5. Rudy Gobert back for Wolves: Gobert missed nearly a month of action while dealing with a back injury, but Gobert is back for Minnesota. In the three outings since his return, he’s averaging 13.0 points, 10.0 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.3 steals in a little over 28 minutes, posting an absurd plus-16.7 plus-minus rating when he’s on the court.
