Big Lohensports Night Preview

 I actually wasn't going to write one today and was going to instead wait until tomorrow to react to the Steelers game. But I am currently extremely bored at work and figured this is a great way to pass the time. Here at Lohensports, we try our hardest to watch every Steelers and Raptors game all season long. Tonight is a rare night where the two teams will be playing at the same time, meaning I will be flipping back and fourth like a maniac. That being said, here's what you can expect from each game: 

7:30pm - Timberwolves vs Raptors

Could tonight be the return of Scottie Barnes? For the first time since he took a forearm to the face from Jokic, breaking his orbital bone, Scottie Barnes is listed as questionable on the injury report. Going up against a Minnesota team with a stacked front court, having Scottie back will be a gigantic boost to their chances of taking this one. Either way there's a lot of intrigue in this matchup. RJ Barrett is coming off back to back great games where his ability to get downhill to the rim was on full display. Going up against Boston without Porzingis and Indiana without Turner however, RJ hasn't had to contest with a great rim protector. He's going to have to do it against one of the best in the league tonight with Rudy Gobert while being hounded by 2 great perimeter defenders in Ant and Jaden McDaniels. Jakob Poeltl is on the biggest heater of his career, but he too will have to go up against Rudy tonight. It will be interesting to see if RJ can draw the help enough to get Jak free for that push shot he's been nailing lately. Whether Scottie plays or not, tonight is going to depend heavily on Gradey Dick having a good game. The Wolves have a lot of options to shut down the RJ and Jak 2 man game that's been working so well lately and the Raptors should be looking to find Gradey as a release valve. If Scottie is back, look for him to go at Julius Randle who's had a lackluster start to his Minnesota career on defense. Of course many will be watching for young star Anthony Edwards. The story of the season for the Wolves is that they win games when Edwards hits a bunch of 3s. If the Raptors can find a way to contain him on the perimeter, I think they've got a good chance at making this one competitive. 

8:15pm - Steelers vs Browns

The divisional matchups are going to keep pouring in late in the season for the Steelers. The Browns are having a season from hell, aka a typical Browns year this season sitting at just 2-8. Although they've struggled, divisional matchups can be tossups no matter the strength of either team. Jameis Winston has been pretty solid as the Browns QB, especially compared to the dumpster fire they were running out there in the first half of the year. The Steelers are no joke on defense though, I look for them to collapse the pocket and force Jameis into bad decisions, which he is prone to. After getting just 6 FGs and no TDs in the win against Baltimore, look for the Steelers to try and set the tone early with a TD. I expect Russ to take a couple moon shots in the first half just to quiet the fanbase whining about the offense. A nice side story for this one, if the Steelers pull out a victory today it will be Tomlin's 18th straight .500 or better season, an incredible record for a great coach. 

Go Steelers, Go Raptors!