The Cleveland Cavaliers travel to Minneapolis to face the Minnesota Timberwolves at Target Center on Friday.

The Cavaliers (14-12) looked to be in big trouble when they lost Collin Sexton (knee) for the season, but they've been one of the biggest surprises in the NBA since then. In fact, Cleveland comes into this matchup winning five of their last seven games, beating some of the best teams in the NBA. What's also fascinating is the fact that they've never traded off wins and losses in three consecutive games. That's the definition of a streaky team, and they'd need a win here to keep that going after beating the Chicago Bulls on Wednesday in their most recent outing. What's really changed this club is the development of Darius Garland and Jarrett Allen. Those two have been playing at All-Star levels all season long, and it'll be fascinating to see how those two look with Sexton next season.

The Timberwolves (11-14) won seven of eight before a recent slide, entering this matchup losing four straight games. It's easy to see how they lost when looking at the competition, facing four teams that are all expected to finish Top-4 in their conference. That's a good indicator of where this club is at right now in general, beating up on the bad teams but struggling with the elite. That's actually an encouraging sign when looking at past years, though, because this Minnesota club looks like they could compete for a play-in spot. That's something this fanbase has been dying to see, and it's all possible because of youngsters like Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards.

These teams split their season series last year, with the home team winning both outings. That followed up a split in 2019, with the road team winning both of those.