A familiar face — with a familiar pace — is heading back to Minnesota.
Veteran forward Kyle Anderson, affectionately nicknamed “Slow Mo” for his deliberate playing style, will rejoin the Minnesota Timberwolves when they tip off against the Memphis Grizzlies on Tuesday night in Minneapolis.
It is uncertain whether Anderson will suit up one day after he signed with Minnesota, where he previously played from 2022-24 and averaged 7.8 points, 4.3 rebounds and 4.5 assists splitting between starting and reserve roles. The Grizzlies bought out Anderson’s contract on Thursday, which cleared the way for the 32-year-old to rejoin the Timberwolves for a likely playoff run.
Regardless of whether Anderson plays Tuesday, momentum appears to be on Minnesota’s side. The Timberwolves will try to increase their winning streak to four games after knocking off the Portland Trail Blazers, Los Angeles Clippers and Denver Nuggets during a three-game road trip.
Next comes a three-game homestand, which also includes contests against the Toronto Raptors and Orlando Magic.
Memphis also is playing well as it heads north. The Grizzlies have won back-to-back games against the Dallas Mavericks and Indiana Pacers, so they go for their first three-game winning streak since Nov. 26-30 against the New Orleans Pelicans, Clippers and Sacramento Kings.
Grizzlies coach Tuomas Iisalo said he likes the competitiveness he has seen of late. He praised his players after their 125-106 win against the Pacers on Sunday.
“You want the guys to give multiple efforts and always look to get back into situations, and I think with the group we have right now, I thought we did overall as a team a great job of having our defense feed our offense,” Iisalo said. “We were disruptive, and that triggered a lot of transitions. We won the possession game even though we were the smaller team through rebounds, through steals. Great activity.
“I love the way we were sharing the ball. I think guys really enjoyed playing together.”
Walter Clayton Jr., who made his second career start Sunday against Indiana, will look to stay hot after tallying a career-high 14 assists and four steals. The rookie’s passing ability helped Memphis notch 34 assists on 48 baskets.
Meanwhile, Anthony Edwards will try to keep up his red-hot streak after taking home the NBA’s Western Conference Player of the Week honors for his past three games. Edwards averages a career-best 29.5 points per game this season on 49.3% shooting from the field.
Edwards said his teammates deserved credit for the team’s recent hot streak as well. One player he pointed out was Bones Hyland, who scored 18 points in 16 minutes Sunday against the Nuggets. Hyland missed only one of seven shots from the field, and he made all three of his attempts from beyond the arc.
“He’s one of those guys, if he sees one go in, he might have a big night,” Edwards said. “I feel like one of these games he’s going to have a really big night for us, and it might come in the playoffs.”
This is the fourth and final game between the Timberwolves and Grizzlies this season. Memphis won two of the first three matchups, including a 137-128 victory in their most recent meeting Feb. 2 on the Grizzlies’ home court.
