The set-up: Just how bad will Cleveland's slide become? One could argue the Cavs hit "rock bottom" last night, as they held a 21-point, second-quarter lead against the lowly Orlando Magic (team entered just ), but wound up on the losing end of a 116-98 decision in Orlando. Doing the math, that's a 39-point turnaround, as the Cavs lost for the 13th time in their last 19 games. The Cavs now welcome the Minnesota Timberwolves to Quicken Loans Arena on Wednesday, a team that hammered the Cavaliers 127-99 back on Jan. 8 at the Target Center, ending a six-game losing streak in the series. Minnesota, which has won 10 of its last 16 contests, has been idle since Saturday's 118-107 home victory over New Orleans and checks in at 34-22 which gives them the No. 4 seed in the West (just a half-game back of the Spurs).

Minnesota: Jimmy Butler continued his stellar production with 30 points, eight rebounds and seven assists in the victory over the Pelicans. Butler has topped 20 points in all five contests since returning from a four-game absence due to a knee injury and is riding an eight-game overall streak of 20-point performances. What an addition he's been for a franchise that opened the current season having missed the postseason for 13 consecutive years. Butler (22.1-5.4-5.0) is the team's leading scorer but center Karl-Anthony Towns (19.9 & 12.2) leads the NBA with 47 double-doubles and has notched six in a row after a 22-point, 16-rebound effort against New Orleans. Rounding out this team's outstanding starting-five are Wiggins (17.9 & 4.20, Teague (12.8 & 6.9 APG) and Gibson (12.1 & 7.4). Wolves head coach Tom Thibodeau is still not quite happy with Minnesota's defense but the offense ranks 5th in both scoring (109.0) and FG percentage (47.8)

Cleveland: The Cavaliers have lost by 20 or more points in four of their last 13 contests but Tuesday's 18-point defeat was just as disappointing to LeBron James after his team was shellacked 65-31 in the second half. "I mean, it's just a culmination of our season, pretty much," LBJ told reporters. "We've had big leads this year, we've lost them for whatever reason. They came out (after halftime) with a lot of sense of urgency." Cleveland actually had a 43-point 1st quarter against the Magic but then just completely collapsed. The Cavaliers allowed Orlando to record 41 third-quarter points before registering just nine of their own in the final quarter on 3-of-18 shooting.

The pick: The 'trick' for Cleveland would be to hold the T-wolves under 100 points, as Minnesota is just 2-9 in the 11 times it's been held below 100 points. However, the Cavs' defense has been non-existent during their slide. Then again, as Tom Thibodeau said, " They have LeBron and they still have one of the best home records (19-7) in the NBA." The Timberwolves have dropped each of their last four visits to Cleveland and the Cavs had won three straight at home prior to their ugly loss to teh Rockets on Saturday. Off back-to-back humiliations, I'm on the Cavs. Make Cleveland an 8* play.