Timberwolves, Without Edwards, Host 1-5 Bucks Seeking a Reset After Foul-Plagued Spurs Loss

The Minnesota Timberwolves open a new week Monday night at Target Center against a Milwaukee team that has won once in six tries. They will do it without Anthony Edwards for what could be a long stretch. NBC Sports reports that Edwards had arthroscopic surgery on his right knee and could miss up to two months. He was averaging 33.3 points a game on 40% shooting from three when he went down.

Donte DiVincenzo (Achilles) is also out, according to the injury report in Brew Hoop's preview. Milwaukee lists no injuries. Brew Hoop projects LaMelo Ball, Ayo Dosunmu, Jaden McDaniels, Jonathan Kuminga and Rudy Gobert to start for Minnesota. Milwaukee's projected lineup is Ryan Rollins, Tyler Herro, Jaime Jaquez Jr., Kyle Kuzma and Myles Turner. Tipoff is 7 p.m. Central.

In its preview, Canis Hoopus names fouls as the problem Minnesota can fix most easily. Six Wolves are averaging more than two fouls a game: Ball, Gobert, Edwards, McDaniels, Dosunmu and Kuminga. Ball fouled out of Saturday's 121-111 loss in San Antonio, where he scored 10 points on 2-of-10 shooting in 20 minutes. Fatigue is the other issue. Minnesota played five games in seven days, overtime in Cleveland included, before Monday. Next week's schedule is lighter, with three games in seven days.

Gobert is the other player to watch. Brew Hoop has him shooting 41.2% from the field and under 50% at the line, and he went 0-for-13 over one two-game stretch. He is still pulling down more than 12 rebounds a night, though. His matchup with Turner, another center off to a slow start, carries some history: the two got into an altercation in 2021.

What it means for Monday

The Wolves are 4-3 and 10th in the West. A 3-0 start built on lopsided road wins in Miami and Orlando has turned into a 1-3 stretch, and Minnesota is 1-2 since Edwards went out. The four results since the hot start: a 127-127 overtime loss in Cleveland, a five-point home loss to Golden State, a 26-point win over the Clippers and the loss in San Antonio. Milwaukee comes in on a two-game skid. Canis Hoopus writer Thilo Latrell Widder expects a comfortable night, writing that "Minnesota should take this one comfortably."

The numbers point the same way. Across the 12 venues on this site's board for the game, Minnesota is a heavy favorite. Novig has the Wolves at -456 on the moneyline and Milwaukee at +441. Novig's spread is Minnesota -11.5 at -102, with the Bucks +11.5 at even money. DraftKings is a full point higher: its best Milwaukee number is +12.5 at -115. On the total, Novig has 233.5, the over at -104 and the under at +102. DraftKings again sits a point higher, with the under at 234.5 for -115. The sportsbooks' hold runs 2.4% to 5.0% on the spread and 2.8% to 5.0% on the total, so the venues differ by about a point on the line and a few cents on the price.

Without Edwards, a 1-5 opponent at home is about as soft as this part of the schedule gets. A stacked November follows, so Minnesota needs Ball to carry more of the scoring and needs everyone to stay out of foul trouble.