Timberwolves teammates Andrew Wiggins and Karl-Anthony Towns each scored 20 points or more in every game last month, but now that February has turned to March....
Is their combined nearly 60-point scoring average enough to get one of them the Western Conference's Player of Month.
And if so, which one?
Wiggins averaged 28.8 points and 1.75 steals in February while Towns averaged 28.4 points and 13.3 reboubnds.
But remember the West is a conference in which Oklahoma City's Russell Westbrook -- the NBA's nightly triple-double machine -- plays.
Westbrook averaged a triple-double -- 33.4 points, 11.0 rebounds, 10.0 assists.
Houston's James Harden averaged 30.9 ppg, 10.4 apg and 7.9 rpg while New Orleans' Anthony Davis averaged 29.5 points, 10 rpg and 2.64 blocks per game.
"The thing is, the better our team does, the more there will be recognition for how people perform," Wolves coach Tom Thibodeau said. "But you have to win. It's the same thing as the All-Star stuff. The winning part is critical."
And in February, the Wolves were 5-7 after starting the month with four consecutive losses. They finished it by winning three of their last four and four of their last six.
Wiggins was asked for whom he'd vote if he had a ballot, himself or Towns?
"I don't know, who do you guys vote for?" he said, turning toward Tyus Jones and Gorgui Dieng after this morning's shootaround in Salt Lake City. "Co-players."
The Wolves tonight play a Jazz team that lost in Oklahoma City last night, but remains the kind of franchise the Wolves should follow. They're atop the Northwest Division at 37-23 and are headed for the playoffs after they last summer added veterans George Hill, Joe Johnson and Boris Diaw to a young foundation featuring Rudy Gobert, Gordon Hayward and Derrick Favors.
A couple other things:
* Thibodeau said veteran Lance Stephenson continues to rehabilitate a Grade 2 ankle sprain sustained before the All-Star break and is on course to re-sign with the team from an initial 10-day contract after he heals.
"Once he's healthy, we'll move forward," Thibodeau said. "It's a sprain, so it is getting better.
* Zach LaVine remains in California rehabbing his knee after ACL surgery, but Thibodeau said he expects LaVine will return to the Twin Cities "shortly' to continue his road back.
