Can Knicks center Tyson Chandler make up for his missed free-throw against the Bulls? Breaking down the New York Knicks vs. Minnesota Timberwolves preview

The 2013-14 NBA season is upon us once again and the New York Knicks and their fans are looking for a championship this season. As team orange and blue gets ready to take on the Minnesota Timberwolves, one game on the road to hopefully snagging the Larry Obryan Trophy in June, let's do a recap.

Looking Back

The Knicks opened their campaign with an unimpressive 90-83 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks at home. On the second game of a back-to-back, the Knicks came two points short of a morale-boosting win against the Chicago Bulls. The Knicks lost a heartbreaker to the Bulls, 81-82. One of the culprits for the loss was a missed free-throw shot by center Tyson Chandler with 10.8 seconds left in the 4th quarter. A bucket could have sent the game into overtime and then with a higher basketball IQ in place and perhaps, luck, a win.

If there are any positives to take away from this loss is that the Knicks can hang with a top tier team in the Eastern Conference. However, on the flip side, Carmelo Anthony and the guys are still dogged by the failure of registering a win against Chicago in five straight contests dating back to last season. What's ironic about the Knicks' struggles against the Bulls is that they have enjoyed overwhelming success against the Miami Heat, the reigning defending champions. The Knicks took three of four victories against the South Beach kids last season.

The Knicks are an enigma, but aren't we all? All-in-all, it's too early in this brand new season to label the Knicks. The team has experienced a roster overhaul replacing nine players from last season to this season's reduced collection of seven additions most notably rookie guard Tim Hardaway Jr., forward Andrea Bargnani, forward Metta World Peace, and JR Smith's little brother Chris, also a guard. So the Knicks need time to gel.

Looking Forward

Tomorrow evening, the Knicks will return home to host a Western Conference opponent, the Minnesota Timberwolves at 7:30 pm in the world's most famous arena, Madison Square Garden. Unlike the Knicks, the Timberwolves have yet to experience defeat. They are currently sitting at the top of the Western Conference undefeated at 2-0. They defeated the Orlando Magic in overtime 120-115 and the Oklahoma City Thunder 100-81. Although the Knicks have made significant alterations to their roster gaining youth opposed to last year's AARP (American Association of Retired Persons), the Timberwolves are still younger and probably faster.

Floor General Ricky Rubio, a Spanish import, has established himself as one of the premier point guards in this game due to his advanced ability to find teammates anywhere on the court for easy baskets. He is capable of dominating the game by passing exclusively. Forward Kevin Love, who missed a substantial amount of time last season due to a variety of injuries enters this season relatively healthy. He's looking forward to reminding us all who the best power forward is in the game today behind Spurs future Hall-of-Famer Tim Duncan. The rest of the wolves feature a well-balanced team in bigs, wingmen, and guards that include rebounding machine F Nikola Pekovic, F Dante Cunningham, F Derrick Williams, F Corey Brewer, F Chase Budinger, G Kevin Martin, and rookies G Shabazz Muhammad and C Gorgui Dieng.

The Western conference in totality has remained consistent in providing a tough night for any team and that's what I believe the Knicks are in for.

The Wolves are going to look to run as they have the personnel to rebound and push the break. Star players always salivate at the opportunity to play in the Mecca of Basketball. I expect Love to take full advantage in showcasing his skills. I expect the Knicks to come out hungry to relieve the stress of receiving a loss to the Bulls earlier this week. They will offer a spirited effort in their return from a one-game road trip. Every night Knicks forward Carmelo Anthony steps on the hardwood, the NBA community, as well as the fans, expect a scoring clinic and I expect Anthony to deliver the goods. The Wolves desire to be taken seriously within the Western Conference and the Knicks are anxious to step foot on the basketball court to avenge their previous loss. Expect a good quality and grind-it-out back and forth contest.

Joe Johnson’s seemingly lack of effort is glaring. The second highest NBA player ends with six points and six rebounds and assists

The 10-16 Minnesota Timberwolves came into the Barclays Center on Sunday afternoon (a rare 1:00 p.m. game) needing a road win after losing eight of their last 10 games; and the 7-19 Brooklyn Nets laid out the welcome mat and said, no problem.

The Nets allowed the athletic ‘Wolves to get off to a great start, as they dominated the first quarter. Although Brooklyn tied Minnesota five times during the first stanza, the Timberwolves overpowered the Nets with 47.6 percent field goal shooting compared to the Nets lethargic 28.6 percent, ending the quarter 26-16. For the Nets, Brook Lopez led the charge. Even though Lopez seemingly attracted Timberwolves players every time he touched the ball, the Nets center managed to score half of the Nets first quarter points with eight.

The Nets battled back in the 2nd quarter, outscoring the ‘Wolves 27-26, but it wasn’t enough; Minnesota ended the half with an overall score 52-43. And, where was Joe Johnson? We’re all still waiting for Johnson to show up. The Nets shooting guard ended the half with zero points on 0 of 2 shooting. But, to his credit (tongue in cheek), Johnson did have two assists and one offensive rebound. And, when it was all said and done, Johnson’s tally was triple sixes: six points, six rebounds, and six assists. Not a good showing for the second highest paid NBA player.

Johnson wasn’t the on Nets starter having a bad day. During the third quarter, the fans were so upset with the Nets performance that when Kevin Garnett, former Nets player and now back with the Timberwolves, stole the ball from Jarrett Jack, they started to “boo,” but Ally Love and the Nets entertainment team promptly interrupted and overpowered the disenchanted fans with sheer volume and a T-shirt toss.

“We didn’t play hard, Jack said after the game. “We didn’t show any resistance. The score is very indicative of that.”

At game’s end, Brooklyn Nets superman, Brook Lopez, had 20 points, 10 rebounds, five assists, and one steal.

“Yeah, we haven’t had a complete game in a while and you can see that,” Lopez said responding to whether the Nets energy and effort is worrisome at this point. “We absolutely have to. It takes every person who steps onto the court to set the attitude and we certainly need the bench to come in and you know, do the same or even pick it up.”

Other Nets starters in double digits were Bojan Bogdanovic with 13 points and Thaddeus Young with 12 points. Nets reserve players scoring in double digits were Andrea Bargnani with 11 and Wayne Ellington with 10.

Minnesota’s Karl-Anthony Towns led all scorers with 24 points and 10 rebounds and Gorgui Dieng put up 20 points and 10 boards off the bench. In fact, Minnesota’s bench consisting of Kevin Martin (16), Zach Levine (10), and Andre Miller (2) contributed nearly 50 percent of the team’s total score with 48 points. Andrew Wiggins, a starting guard for Minnesota, chipped in 16 points.

With the loss against Minnesota, Brooklyn dropped its fifth straight.

Next stop for the Nets; Chicago on Monday night.