Timberwolves Road Trip, Justin Hamilton Debuts in MN, and MJ's Shoes for Auction

Road Trip Woes

The Timberwolves are half-way through their four-game road trip, and the first pair of games was not especially pretty. Minnesota struggled to find any sort of groove against the Clippers Monday night, and the team shot only 37.3 percent from the field in its 89-76 loss to an LA squad without Blake Griffin or Jamal Crawford.

Ricky Rubio grabbed only a single bucket against the Clippers, and his performance was not much better Wednesday. The point guard had been putting up impressive stats as of late, but he is once again struggling to shoot. Rubio started out 1-of-6 from the field against Phoenix, and he finished the game 4-of-11.

Minnesota looked stronger against the Suns, and the team held its own for three quarters, but Markieff Morris and his men pulled away to seal the win.

The Wolves are simply running out of gas. With Kevin Garnett resting the last two games and Rubio and Nikola Pekovic both favoring sore ankles, there's not a lot of oomph left in this team. Rookie Andrew Wiggins looked entirely wiped out against the Suns, and the Wolves are showing they just don't have enough to get through an entire game as of late.

Justin Hamilton Wants to Make This Count

One positive and potentially interesting factor in Wednesday's game was the Wolves' most recent addition, Justin Hamilton. Hamilton was claimed off waivers by Minnesota on March 5. Wolves fans got their first look at the center, and I think most would admit it was better than expected.

The 24-year-old tallied 15 points on 58.3 percent shooting, and he grabbed the only Wolves' three-point basket of the night. It's hard to tell how big of a role Hamilton will play for Minnesota moving forward, but he certainly made the most of the 28 minutes he was given in Phoenix.

"I ain't goin' back to the D-League." - Justin Hamilton, probably.

— Zachary Bennett (@ZacharyBD) March 12, 2015

It was a one-game thing, so probably a bit early to jump on the Hamilton bandwagon, but it's worth noting he had enough successes to warrant a highlights video:

Other Basketball News

On March 12, ESPN reported that Michael Jordan's 1984 game-worn shoes are set be auctioned next month. According to Khalid Ali, who was a ball boy for the Los Angeles Lakers during the 1984-85 season, the shoes were given to him by Jordan following the Dec. 2 Bulls-Lakers game. Ali said he asked Jordan for the shoes, and Jordan autographed them for him as well.

Ali consigned the shoes to SCP Auctions, and the organization's vice president predicts bids as high as $50,000 for the red-and-white sneakers.

"People obsess over game-worn Jordans," said Dan Imler, "and there's definite value to the fact that these are the earliest ones that have surfaced."

According to ESPN, Jordan earned a $500,000 paycheck for five years to wear Nike shoes.

"In order to get the final two years of the deal, the company had to sell at least $4 million worth of Air Jordans in Year 3."

That's a lot of shoes.

For those of you with a lot of extra cash lying around, the auction will run from April 8 through April 25.

Lindsey's Friday Flick Recommendation

I'm going with a less-recent movie for this recommendation, throwing it all the way back to 2013.

The Great Gatsby

Leonardo DiCaprio captures audiences yet again in this remake of the Robert Redford classic film. The movies of course are created off F. Scott Fitzgerald's original book. As a lover of the novel, I was incredibly hesitant to see the 2013 film, but I was pleasantly surprised.

DiCaprio fits the character of Gatsby, and Tobey Maguire was the perfect casting for Nick Carraway. The movie stayed incredibly close to the book, including the famous quotes we all know and love. Top that all off with Director Baz Luhrmann's quirky style and ability to meld the 1920s with current time, and you have one of my favorite films of the past five years. Check it out!