The Jazz and Wolves tip off in about an hour.  This is the first look we’ve had at the Wolves since the McHale helped his old team by shipping KG to Boston.

Only the Heat have a worse record.  No one expects Minny to compete this year or for a while to come.  With them and Seattle as the foundation for the cellar in the NW division, our only competition for the next couple years will be Denver and Portland.  Portland won’t be this year though after their recent 2-8 slide.  Why couldn’t we have played them now?  They’d probably still beat us though.  And we may not even see Seattle any more.  If the new owners have their way, they’ll be in OKC.  Save our Sonics has released  a letter they sent to the NBA board that will vote on this.  It’s pretty compelling.  You have to think as a Jazz fan that we could be moved too.

In golf, a 2-inch putt counts as much as a 350-yard drive.  And in basketball, a win against a bad team like Minnesota counts as much as a win against the Lakers.  Same holds true for losses.  So with 4 more games this year against Minny, these are ones that we have to have.  Even going 3-1 against them might adversely affect standings and home-court advantage.

Al Jefferson is the one to watch tonight for the Wolves.  He was the big name in the trade last year.

Let’s hope the Jazz can get this done.