The Utah Jazz will look to go 4-0 in their first road trip of the season as they put their winning streak on the line on Wednesday against the Minnesota Timberwolves. The Utah Jazz have started out the season strong on the road as they remain a perfect 4-0 in away games thus far. Those games include a pair of victories over strong opponents as well including the Houston Rockets and New Orleans Pelicans, which makes them all the more impressive. Utah’s success away from home has led to them riding a three-game winning streak through the first three games of their current four-game road trip. However, their fourth and final stop is going to be far from easy. They’ll wrap things up against the division rival Minnesota Timberwolves who, despite all their internal turmoil, have posted some big-time wins this year, including Monday’s bout against the Los Angeles Lakers. The nice thing about this game is that the Jazz will be well-rested considering that they haven’t played since Sunday. Nevertheless, a talented Minnesota team that boasts some challenging guys to defend will likely present quite a threat to Utah as the team aims to go a perfect 4-0 on their first road trip of the season. If they are to do so, these following three aspects will be absolutely critical to their success.<doc-sep>MINNEAPOLIS — So far, the magic numbers for Rudy Gobert are six and 28. Those totals are the amounts of double-doubles and dunks the Utah Jazz center owns so far in the young season. For Utah, their key number is three as in a three-game winning streak. Gobert hopes to chalk up another double-double, add a few more dunks and Utah hopes to get a fourth straight win Wednesday night when it visits the Minnesota Timberwolves. Gobert is averaging 17.7 points and 13.5 rebounds. He leads the league in dunks and has recorded a double-double in each game so far, doing so after dunking 151 times and compiling 30 double-doubles in 56 games last season. On Sunday, Gobert dunked four times while finishing with 23 points and 16 rebounds in a 113-104 win over the Dallas Mavericks. “I want to show that I’m not only a defensive star,” Gobert told reporters. “I can be a star offensively, too.” Gobert’s dunking ability is helping the Jazz shoot 66.2 percent (131-of-198) on shots from less than five feet out and 67.9 percent 127-of-187) on shots inside the restricted area. On Sunday, it wasn’t just Gobert in the second night of a back-to-back set. Donavan Mitchell added 20 points while Jae Crowder contributed 15 as the Jazz shot 52.5 percent. Derrick Favors did not play due to a sore knee and was replaced in the starting lineup by Crowder. Georges Niang also saw time off the bench in the frontcourt and chipped in 13 on a night when Alec Burks rested a sprained left hand. “We’re not a team that’s about any one guy. We’re not about our starters, we’re not about our bench, we’re not about any one player — this is a group that has to perform together,” Utah coach Quin Snyder told reporters. “So when guys play together and play the right way, we’re a better team.” Crowder rolled his ankle at the end of Sunday’s game but is listed as probable for Wednesday. Favors and Burks are listed as questionable, meaning Utah could again lean heavily on a reserve unit that has totaled 77 points in the last two games. Besides trying for a fourth straight win, Utah is trying to remain unbeaten on the road through five games for the first time since 1992-93. Minnesota is off to an uneven start as it plays through the off-court saga of Jimmy Butler’s trade request that he made in September. On Monday, the Timberwolves rebounded from a 30-point home loss to the Milwaukee Bucks by recording a 124-120 win over the Los Angeles Lakers as both Butler and Karl-Anthony Towns played well in the same game. Butler led Minnesota with 32 points while Towns totaled 25 and a season-high 16 rebounds. It was the first time Butler and Towns scored at least 20 points in the same game. “There will be some ups and downs and how you deal with both are important,” Minnesota coach Tom Thibodeau told reporters. “If things are going well if you start to feel too good about yourself, you’re usually going to get knocked down. You also have to know how to lift yourself up when things aren’t going your way.” Butler’s criticism of Towns has been part of his desire to leave Minnesota but both players put their differences aside to help the Wolves get their best win of the season in a game played at a breakneck pace. Butler hit five of his career-high six 3-pointers in the fourth quarter while Towns secured a key rebound in the final seconds to cap his second double-double of the season. “It’s basketball,” Butler told reporters. “I don’t think nothing that’s gone on before this game has anything to do with us going out there and competing. We all go out there, play together, play to win.” Although Towns had his most productive game of the season, he shot 7 of 18 and committed five turnovers. So far, he is shooting 42.1 percent (40-of-95). “I’m not worried about it. I just want to make sure I do as much as I can on the defensive end to impact the game there,” Towns told reporters. “Offense will come just whenever it comes.” On Wednesday, he will try to get it going against Gobert for the 11th time. Gobert is 8-2 in their head-to-head meetings and averaging 12.4 points, 12.2 rebounds, 3.1 blocks and shooting 64.4 percent. Towns is averaging 20.6 points and 11 rebounds on 53.5 percent shooting. Minnesota was without Andrew Wiggins for a third straight game due to a right quad contusion and is day-to-day. Rookie Josh Okogie started for Wiggins, scored 17 points Monday and would likely start again if Wiggins is out.<doc-sep>Jimmy Butler is not playing for Timberwolves against Jazz When you subscribe we will use the information you provide to send you these newsletters. Sometimes they'll include recommendations for other related newsletters or services we offer. Our Privacy Notice explains more about how we use your data, and your rights. You can unsubscribe at any time. Sign up fornow and never miss the top F1 stories again The Wolves star has been in excellent form, averaging just shy of 23 points per game. Butler played a key role in the 124-120 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers, top scoring with 32 points and provided six rebounds and four assists. He also managed to keep four-time MVP LeBron James quiet. When asked for his thoughts after the game, Butler said: “I just made a couple of shots.<doc-sep>
Happy Halloween, Jazz fans. As a treat, it's also gameday! The trick? Starting PF Derrick Favors and Alec Burks of the Backcourt of Irrational Confidence are out with injuries. Ricky Rubio will be the most popular player in the building tonight--with the fans, that is--much to the consternation of the Wolves, most notably Jimmy Butler. Sitting at 3-4, the Peskies have had a mediocre start to the season record-wise. As for the locker room and organization in general, they're a mess. We've heard former Jazz players complain about three-hour practices before, but the way the Timberwolves players talk it seems like coach Tom Thibodeau has found a way to make them play three hours per game. To be real, he probably would do that if he could. Because of all this, Jimmy Butler will probably be the subject of trade rumors until the deadline. The Minnesota Timberwolves will be without Jimmy Butler and Jeff Teague tonight. The Utah Jazz continue to profit off of opposing teams’ misfortuntes. First, Chris Paul then Anthony Davis ... and now ... Jeff Teague and Jimmy Butler. Teague actually has an injury. Jimmy Butler, reportedly, is starting a six week sabbatical from basketball to try to strong arm his way out of the trainwreck that is Minnesota. With Ricky Rubio and Donovan Mitchell now rolling, the Utah Jazz should be able to dominate this matchup as it’ll just be Andrew Wiggins and Karl-Anthony Towns putting up resistance. Game Info When: 6:00pm MT • Wednesday, October 31st, 2018 Where: Target Center. Minneapolis, MN TV: AT&T Sportsnet RM, NBA League Pass Radio: 1280 AM/97.5 FM The Zone Injury Report: Utah Jazz: Derrick Favors - Knee Soreness - Questionable Jae Crowder - Right Ankle Sprain - Probable Raul Neto - Hamstring Injury - OUT Alec Burks - Left hand sprain - Questionable Minnesota Timberwolves: Jimmy Butler - Don’t want no smoke - OUT Jeff Teague - Knee - OUT What to Watch For: Rudy Gobert vs Karl-Anthony Towns According to ESPN.com, Minnesota center Karl-Anthony Towns is essentially averaging a double-double this season, putting up 17.6 ppg and 9.9 rpg. Rudy Gobert is averaging 17.7 and 13.5. What the superficial stats don't tell you, thoufh, is that Rudy plays defense and KAT is basically a large James Harden. Rudy should have his way tonight, and the matchup at the 5-spot is key to winning the battle of the boards. The mess that is Jimmy Butler Just another chapter in the Jimmy Butler saga. Jimmy Butler helped the T-Wolves beat the Los Angeles Lakers and now is flexing hard by sitting. Honestly, a lot of us here at the site were hoping to see what the “You don’t want no smoke” rematch would look like after Jimmy Butler was angrily tweeting and the Rubio getting decked to floor from their prior matchup. Tonight very well could be another Ricky Rubio domination as he’ll be ready to show out and give Minnesota a look at what stability and capability looks like.