Skip to content

Washington Wizards (33-24) at Minnesota Timberwolves (12-43), 8 p.m. (ET)

(SportsNetwork.com) - Kevin Garnett will make his return to the Minnesota Timberwolves Wednesday night when the team hosts the Washington Wizards at Target Center.

Garnett was acquired by the Timberwolves on Thursday's trade deadline day. After 12 seasons in Minnesota, Garnett left and won a championship in Boston, but he is still the record-holder in most categories on the T-wolves all-time list.

"I didn't get any sleep the night before the trade deadline and the two days before that," Garnett said. "I don't like to do anything during the season. If anything, I like to do things, obviously, in the offseason. I have kids in school and family, so it wasn't really my cup of tea.

"I just thought as far as my options as far as what I want to do after basketball, this is probably the best situation, a storybook ending."

Garnett will re-debut Wednesday night and head coach Flip Saunders acknowledged Garnett will start. He's a shell of his former self on the court, but his role mentoring young Minnesota stars like Andrew Wiggins, Ricky Rubio and the like, could prove invaluable.

The T-wolves are 1-1 since the All-Star break with a home win over the Phoenix Suns and a road loss Monday versus the Houston Rockets. Minnesota couldn't stop James Harden, who had a triple-double in the Rockets' 113-102 victory.

Wiggins scored 30 points on his 20th birthday to lead Minnesota, his third 30- point game this season. Kevin Martin added 21 points and Nikola Pekovic had 16 points and 13 rebounds in the loss.

Adreian Payne, who was recently acquired from the Atlanta Hawks, had 11 points and 10 rebounds for the Timberwolves

"We just didn't have enough at the end," Saunders said.

Shabazz Muhammad is expected to miss the remainder of the season after undergoing finger surgery. The procedure was needed to repair a ruptured ligament in the middle finger of his left hand.

The Wizards are mired in a nasty tailspin that has spanned back well before the All-Star break. Washington has lost four in a row and nine of its last 11, falling to fifth in the Eastern Conference, just 1 1/2 games ahead of the Milwaukee Bucks.

The Wizards, who have lost five straight on the road, are without guard Bradley Beal, who missed his sixth in a row with a leg injury in Tuesday's 114-107 home setback to the Golden State Warriors.

Paul Pierce led the Wizards with 25 points and John Wall contributed a 16- point, 11-assist double-double. Marcin Gortat tallied 16 points with 11 rebounds for Washington.

Garrett Temple, starting in place of Beal, and Kevin Seraphin, both had 10 in the loss.

The Wizards committed a whopping 26 turnovers in the defeat.

"We take care of the ball better, we'll get back to winning games," Wizards coach Randy Wittman said.

The Wizards bested the Timberwolves by 14 in Washington on Dec. 16, but have dropped their last four visits to the Twin Cities.

Daily Newsletter

Get the latest trending sports news daily in your inbox