Wolves' Towns, Wiggins look to continue impressive play vs. Pacers

By foxsports
Published

It is Friday the 13th and the Minnesota Timberwolves hope to remove the curse which has haunted them on this day over the years.  

OK, so not quite a curse or haunted, but the Wolves are 6-8 all-time on Friday the 13th while their opponent, the Indiana Pacers, are 16-8, the third best record in the NBA on this superstitious date.  

Two things Minnesota hopes continues are the play of youngsters Andrew Wiggins and Karl-Anthony Towns.  

Wiggins is just the seventh player in NBA history -- but second in franchise history -- to tally back-to-back 30+-point games on the road at age 20 or younger. Here's the list:

Player Team Year  
Bernard King Nets November, 1977
Cliff Robinson Nets March, 1981
Stephon Marbury Timberwolves January, 1998
LeBron James Cavaliers 4 times  
Kevin Durant Thunder 3 times  
Russell Westbrook Thunder February, 2009
Andrew Wiggins Timberwolves November, 2015

Meanwhile, Towns joined some elite company by posting six double-doubles in his first eight games in the NBA.

6+ Double-Doubles in First 8 Games Since 1985-86

Player Team Season Amount
David Robinson Spurs 1989-90 7
Dikembe Mutombo Nuggets 1991-92 7
Shaquille O'Neil Magic 1992-93 8
Karl-Anthony Towns Timberwolves 2015-16 6

All three of those players also the only rookies to have seven or more double-doubles in their first nine games, so Towns can join that group as well.  

Minnesota's rookie record for most consecutive double-doubles in a season is five, by Christian Laettner from March 16-23, 1993.  

Minnesota also hopes to continue its success on the road to start the season. The Timberwolves have won four straight away from home to start the 2015-16 campaign, which is tied for the sixth longest streak to begin the season by a team which had a losing record the previous season. The only teams who have a long streak are the 2007-08 Orlando Magic (7), 1970-71 Detroit Pistons (6), 1987-88 Chicago Bulls (5), 1967-68 St. Louis Hawks (5) and 1958-59 New York Knicks (5).  

Other notes:  

-- The Timberwolves are allowing just 9.6 fast-break points per game, which is the third-lowest in the NBA. Last season, Minnesota allowed 14.3 fast-break points per game, which was 24th in the league.  

-- Indiana is allowing 20.7 points off turnovers, a 5.2 increase from last season. That is the largest margin of increase in the NBA this season.  

-- Wiggins is averaging 23.7 points and 6.3 rebounds in his last six road games when playing on zero days' rest.  

Statistics courtesy STATS Inc.