Wizards Face Spatial and Rebounding Challenge vs. Timberwolves

With an uphill battle against the Minnesota Timberwolves looming the Washington Wizards know two areas they have to succeed in to get the win.

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The Washington Wizards enter Wednesday night's matchup against the Minnesota Timberwolves on a four-game losing streak sitting in 14th place in the Eastern Conference.

While the Wizards have been struggling, the Timberwolves have been impressive as the Western Conference's No. 2 team with a 30-13 record, but have also lost two in a row coming into the night. 

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Further adding a little buzz to the evening is the fact that Washington coach Wes Unseld Jr. and Minnesota coach Chris Finch have a relationship reaching back to their time with the Denver Nuggets.

And while the two teams are on opposite spectrums of their respective conference standings, the familiarity with each other means Unsleld Jr. knows his team faces battles in two key areas of the game; spacing and rebounding.

"He's very progressive in what he tries to do spatially," Unseld Jr. said about Finch. "You see it in the amount of space he gives (center-forward) Karl-Anthony Towns, (and) the way they kind of use (guard) Anthony Edwards. Even the second unit, you know (center-forward) Naz Reid's development as well as (forward-guard Kenny) Anderson...very creative in nature, he probably doesn't get enough credit for that."

Washington Wizards center Daniel Gafford (21) passes the ball as Minnesota Timberwolves center Naz Reid (11) defends in the fourth quarter at Capital One Arena / Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports

While the Timberwolves do a lot of work to get their offensive weapons space to work, what they do on the glass in terms of securing rebounds is equally threatening to a Wizards team that has struggled for much of the year to outduel opponents in that arena.

"You gotta have a 'hit first' mentality," Unseld Jr. said when asked how he plans to approach trying to outrebound Minnesota. "We've done that at times really well. At times we've struggled. And it's gotta be a priority because to finish any possession defensively you gotta finish with the rebound...they got size, they got length, their wings crash at a high rate, so we can't afford to just ball watch. It's gotta be a mindset...we gotta find ways to get to those 50-50 balls."

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Doing so is usually easier said than done, but it's even more difficult with guys like Towns, center Rudy Gobert, and Edwards among the names that will be looking to hand Washington its fifth straight loss while getting off their own losing streak.

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You can follow David Harrison on Twitter @DHarrison82

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