Why the next two games don't matter

OK, every game matters a little bit. Even in an 82-game NBA season. But this isn't a referendum.

There seems to be this buzz out there that tonight's game against the Lakers and Sunday's game at Boston will be this true test of whether the Wolves have truly improved. Are they better? Or has the gaudy January record been the result of the Wolves catching teams when they are missing players and the like.

There is certainly some of that. Milwaukee didn't have Redd or Bogut; the Clip joint didn't have Camby, Zach Randolph or Caveman Kaman and New Orleans didn't have Tyson Chandler or David West.

But to me, the next two games won't give us any indication of whether the Wolves have gotten any better. It doesn't matter how much the Wolves have improved of late, they simply don't have enough talent to really try to measure themselves against two of the top five teams in the Association.

It's possible that the Wolves could beat the Lakers at home. But Charlotte didn't do the Wolves any favors by beating the Lakers in double OT on Wednesday night. Kobe and Co. have only lost consecutive games twice this season. The first was losing at both Miami and Orlando. The second was earlier this month when the Lakers lost at San Antonio and at home against the Magic. Throw in the fact that a Wolves team without a center has to try to defend two 7-footers at the same time in Gasol and Bynum and this is a really tough matchup.

I truly think the Wolves have zero chance of beating the Celtics. While Boston isn't quite as dominant as it was early in the season, the Celtics have four players in Garnett, Pierce, Allen and Rondo who deserve to be All-Stars.  The Green and White enter tonight's game at Boston on a nine-game winning streak and the seven most recent of them have all been by double digits.

My point to all of this is that if there really is a referendum about whether the Wolves are improved, it comes next week. Because after this difficult weekend, there is a back-to-back on Tuesday and Wednesday, first at Indiana and then at home against Atlanta.

Those are the games in which I want to see improvement. If the Wolves do lose both games this weekend and travel to Indy with a three-game losing streak, I don't want to see it extend to five. I want to see the Wolves continue to play well, push the tempo a little bit and get lots of guys involved. 

The sprint to the All-Star break is a difficult one for the Wolves. Lakers, Celtics, Pacers, Hawks, Rockets, Hornets, Raptors. That's seven games against teams that are at least playoff contenders. 

I expect two losses this weekend, but would like to see the Wolves show some improvement before the break.