NBA Game Preview - Minnesota at Cleveland

Sun Jan 5, 2020 7:30 PM EST

The Cleveland Cavaliers were enjoying their most positive stretch of the season after defeating the Minnesota Timberwolves just over one week ago, only to see the bottom fall out again.

The rebuilding Cavaliers aim to snap a three-game losing streak and alleviate some tension on Sunday when they play the third contest of a four-game homestand against the Timberwolves.

In addition to the challenging times on the court, Cleveland is also dealing with reported internal strife between Kevin Love and general manager Koby Altman. The former All-Star reportedly took issue with being fined $1,000 for an on-the-bench tantrum in the third quarter of a 117-97 loss at Toronto on New Year's Eve.

According to The Athletic, Love screamed at Altman in front of teammates, coaches and other front-office personnel during shootaround. He reportedly also scoffed at the notion of being fined last season, saying, "Go ahead. I have plenty of money."

Love, who has a four-year, $120 million contract extension in his back pocket, admitted to being frustrated during Cleveland's 121-106 setback to Oklahoma City on Saturday. He even fired the ball at teammate Cedi Osman during one sequence.

"I felt we were making a play call, and at the end of the second half we were in the bonus, and I had Chris Paul on me," Love said. "Felt swing it to me and try to throw it in the post, see if they double-team me and get a shot out of that, but that's not what we did. Yeah, I was frustrated."

Coach John Beilein did his best to explain to reporters why Love appeared to be frustrated after the game.

"We're 3-3 in the last six games, he's averaging 19 (points) and 10 (rebounds) and sometimes, he wants to win badly and he wants to help this team," Beilein said. "It's been a frustrating couple of years between injuries and the losses pile up, and I'm sure he gets frustrated from time to time."

Love appeared to take issue with Collin Sexton's dribbling during one sequence, although the latter gave himself a pretty decent gift for his 21st birthday by scoring team-high 30 points on Saturday.

"I'm upset that we didn't get the victory," Sexton said. "That's the biggest thing."

Sexton joined rookie Darius Garland with 18 points as the Cavaliers overcame 28 turnovers to record a 94-88 victory over the Timberwolves on Saturday. Love didn't play in that game due to a right hip contusion.

While Minnesota lost that contest, it has won three of five overall since a demoralizing 11-game losing skid from Dec. 1-23.

Shabazz Napier reached the 20-point plateau for a career-high-tying third straight game in the Timberwolves' 99-84 victory over Golden State on Thursday. Prior to that surge, however, the 28-year-old mustered just nine points against Cleveland on a dreadful 3-for-17 performance from the floor.

Robert Covington matched Napier's 20 points and added 10 rebounds for his third double-double of the season on Thursday.

Napier and Covington's performances have been embraced by injury-riddled Minnesota, which played without star Karl-Anthony Towns (left knee sprain), Andrew Wiggins (flu-like symptoms), Jeff Teague (right knee sprain), Treveon Graham (flu-like symptoms), Jake Layman (left toe sprain) and Noah Vonleh (left gluteal contusion).

"We've navigated through some injuries, some illness, been some personal circumstances that were unforeseen, and in a lot of cases, we've had guys step up," Timberwolves coach Ryan Saunders said.

--Field Level Media