Cleveland Cavaliers vs. Minnesota Timberwolves: Injured Wolves invade Cleveland

After getting knocked back to earth by the Denver Nuggets this weekend, the Cavs have a chance to get right back into the win column. The Wolves are free falling and Cleveland should be able to take advantage.

Who? Cleveland Cavaliers (16-35) vs. Minnesota Timberwolves (18-30)

When? 7:00 PM Eastern

Where? Quicken Loans Arena -- Cleveland, OH

Where on my eyeballs? Fox Sports Ohio / NBA League Pass

Tickets? Cleveland Cavaliers tickets

Music?

The T-Wolves are hurting, man. Kevin Love is out again. Ricky Rubio is still working back from his ACL injury. Andrei Kirilenko is out with a quad injury. Minnesota has lost 15 of their last 17 games and are in a bad place right now. Tonight, it's the Cavaliers' job to keep them there.

The Cavs played relatively well against the Nuggets on Saturday, but the Wolves are not the Nuggets. This current version of the Wolves is playing on the 2nd night of a back to back and doesn't have a lot of spare healthy bodies to begin with. On paper, this is the perfect opportunity for Cleveland to see what they did wrong in the Denver game, correct those mistakes, and come out with an authoritative win at home. Of course, things don't always go as planned.

Nikola Pekovic could channel his inner mountain giant and mash up Tyler Zeller's bones to make his bread.

Ricky Rubio could hypnotize the Cavaliers with his adorable-ness.

Derrick Williams could channel his inner fury about being drafted 2nd after Kyrie Irving in 2011.

Any of those scenarios could happen. But if they don't then the Cavaliers should walk away with a victory. Just as with the games against the Magic and Bobcats, this team has reached the point in my mind where they should wins games that they should win. We want to take steps towards being a competitive team again and it starts with beating bad teams on your home floor.

Dion Waiters has played better lately, but he still isn't particularly efficient. His true shooting percentage is one of the worst in the entire NBA. When we have him playing next to Kyrie (one of the most efficient guards in the league), the contrast is even more apparent. We need Dion to take better shots and get to the line more, while staying aggressive. Hopefully that can start tonight.

Fear the Sword's Fearless Prediction:

An injured wolf is still a wolf. And wolves are always scary.

The Cavs learned their lesson when they let an injured Golden State Warriors team stomp them at the Q. It won't happen again -- Cavs win 107-97.