Tip-off: Tuesday, 8:05 p.m. ET
Line: Chicago -7.0, Total: 209.0

The Timberwolves will be looking to snap a four-game losing streak when they face the Bulls in Chicago on Tuesday.

Tom Thibodeau will be making his return to the United Center on Tuesday, and he would love nothing more than to defeat the team that fired him two years ago. The Timberwolves will, however, need to play a lot better than they have been in order to do that. Minnesota comes into this one on a four-game losing streak and the team has not played the type of defense that people were expecting when the Wolves hired Thibodeau. Over the past four games, each of the Timberwolves’ four opponents has shot over 45.0% from the floor. They can’t allow Chicago to reach that mark on Tuesday. The Bulls, meanwhile, have won two straight coming into this one. Unlike Minnesota, Chicago has been excellent defensively over the past two. The Bulls have allowed just 95.5 PPG over the past two contests and they’d love to hold the Wolves to a number like that. Working in the Bulls’ favor in this game is the fact that the Wolves are a pathetic 0-10 ATS after one or more consecutive Unders with Thibodeau in charge. Minnesota is, however, facing a Chicago team that is just 16-29 ATS as a home favorite of 6.5 to 12 points over the past three seasons.

The Timberwolves are struggling recently, but this team is very talented and can turn it around at any moment. They just need to buy in defensively and start playing together offensively. The guys that lead the charge for this group are SF Andrew Wiggins (22.2 PPG, 4.0 RPG) and C Karl-Anthony Towns (21.6 PPG, 10.8 RPG, 1.4 BPG). Wiggins is a very good scorer for a player his age, and he should find some success on Tuesday. He will, however, need to lock in on defense, as he’ll be guarding Jimmy Butler for a large majority of this one. If he does not hold his own in that matchup then Chicago is going to blow Minnesota out. Towns also needs to improve defensively. He has all the tools to be a dominant player on that end, but he has lacked focus at times this year. Towns has been fine as a rim protector, but the Wolves envisioned him being more of a defensive anchor than he has shown thus far. He is, however, one of the best offensive players in the league, and he should be in for a gigantic performance in this one. PG Zach LaVine (20.4 PPG, 3.0 APG, 3.0 RPG) is yet another offensive stud that has disappointed on the defensive end. LaVine’s athleticism has only shown up when scoring this season, and Thibodeau is doing his best to change that. It’d be nice if he could find a way to slow down Dwyane Wade in this game.

The Bulls have played well to start the year and there are many reasons to believe that this team could get better soon. Chicago had three new starters to start the year, so chemistry will only improve as the season goes along. SG Dwyane Wade (20.2 PPG, 4.2 RPG, 3.4 APG, 1.5 SPG) has continued to play well, which is surprising given his age. Wade isn’t as explosive as he used to be, but he’s knocking down 34.3% of his threes this year. That is a huge improvement for him, and he’ll prolong his career a ton by continuing to shoot it well. SF Jimmy Butler (25.6 PPG, 6.7 RPG, 4.1 APG, 1.7 SPG), meanwhile, is an absolute superstar for the Bulls. Butler is one of the best scorers in the league, but he does it unselfishly and is also a menace on the other side of the ball. Tom Thibodeau surely misses him and Butler would love to play well against his former coach in this one. PF Taj Gibson (12.1 PPG, 7.9 RPG, 1.1 BPG) is, however, the x-factor for the Bulls. Gibson is one of the best two-way forwards in the league and he’ll need to be ready to defend Towns on Tuesday. If he can shut him down then the Bulls just might blow them out.