Timberwolves Notes: In Chicago Tonight, Walking Wounded.

Following an almost inevitable loss to the Blazers in Portland on Saturday night, the Wolves are in Chicago tonight to face a Bulls team that has gotten back above .500 by winning 10 of their last 13.  They remain a fantastic defensive team (2nd in the league), but struggle on offense.

As for the Blazers game...I admit I fell asleep in the 4th quarter. It was pretty clear the Wolves just ran out of gas, which is not surprising. I was impressed that they got back into the game in the 3rd quarter, but they just had no way of sustaining it. The real problem was, once again, poor bench play, as Budinger, Cunningham, Barea, and Turiaf all struggled to big minus numbers.  The 2nd quarter performance by the bench in particular got the Wolves behind the 8-ball, and they just could never quite climb out.

• The season is starting to take its toll, as Kevin Martin (finger), Ricky Rubio (ankle), and Kevin Love are all hobbling some, though still playing. They could use a few days off, but won't get them as they have four games this week: tonight in Chicago, at home against New Orleans and Memphis on Wednesday and SFriday, then Saturday in Atlanta.
• Speaking of injuries, Alexey Shved looks pretty awesome in his mask I think.
• The front page of Basketball-Reference now keeps track of interconference play: the West is 154-81 against the East so far.  Crazy.
• It's once again insanely cold here in Madison, though they didn't cancel school (thank the gods).  They still might tomorrow though.