Minnesota could be a sneaky team, especially with the MONSTER numbers Kevin Love has been consistently posting all season and the resurgence of their two off-season acquisiton's Michael Beasley and the infamous Darko Milicic, but that's as far as anything complimentary can be said about this T'Wolves squad. They're currently ranked first in the league in rebounds at 46.2 RPG to our 44.1 RBG (3rd in the Association) so some interesting rebound battles could loom in the paint tonight. Naturally, Love will be a menace and Booz must step up his defensive game. Each teams' frontcourt is similar in makeup: an exceptional defensive Center (although Noah has the superior rebounding and offensive skills), an offensive-minded SF that possesses rebounding skills, and a beast at the 4 with range and lacking defensive abilities. However, Derrick Rose will make Luke Ridnour and the Minnesota "defense," which allows a whopping 109.0 PPG, look foolish and will once again continue to make his MVP case. After a strong second half performance last night against L.A., I don't see the Bulls losing the game for four main reasons: 1) Bulls' 8-2 home record, 2) Minnesota's 1-11 away record, 3) Derrick Rose, and 4) the bench, which showed a strong performance and outscored the Lakers 26-13 last night. Integrate that with the T'Wolves' massive void at depth and the bench could have a HUGE game. The Bulls should handily defeat the T'Wolves and position itself a 1/2 game away from tying the Magic at the 3 seed.
