NBA Power Rankings Week 21: Milwaukee Bucks won’t match Warriors

Last week: Lost to Dallas 111-91, won at New Orleans 139-134, beat Chicago 115-108, lost to Orlando 132-118

This week: Sunday vs. New Orleans, Tuesday at Houston, Friday at Oklahoma City, Saturday at San Antonio

With a win Tuesday at New Orleans and a win at home over the Bulls the following night, the Minnesota Timberwolves did something they had not done since Jan. 2-5 — win consecutive games. It marked the first time this season the Wolves swept a back-to-back and the first time they had done so in nearly a year, since beating the Wizards and Knicks on March 9-10 last year.

The good news didn’t spread to the training room, however, with the club announcing Friday that injured center Karl-Anthony Towns will be out another two weeks as he recovers from a fractured left wrist. The Wolves are continuing to pursue a non-surgical solution to the problem.

Recently acquired Malik Beasley, meanwhile, continues to sizzle, averaging 23.8 points, 3.3 rebounds and 2.0 assists in 31.9 minutes per game over Minnesota’s four games. He shot 60.3 percent overall and hit 48.1 percent on 6.8 long balls per game. In the win at New Orleans, Beasley hung up 28 points with four assists and three rebounds on red-hot 11-of-13 shooting.

Last week: Lost at Sacramento 106-100, lost to Oklahoma City 114-107, lost to Utah 111-105

This week: Sunday at New York, Wednesday at Philadelphia, Saturday at Toronto

Even with their season-long since circling the drain, the Detroit Pistons continue to play hard with their thin roster, dropping three competitive games last week. The Pistons have now lost three in a row and 10 of 11, but youth is being served at the very least.

Detroit came back from 22 points down Saturday night to the Jazz, getting as close as three in the final minute before Utah was able to put the game away. It was a similar story on Wednesday, as the Pistons roared back from a 16-point deficit against the Thunder and held a one-point lead with 1:53 to go, but missed opportunities cost them in the final minute of play.

Christian Wood set his career-high twice last week, first with 29 points against the Thunder and again with 30 against the Jazz. For the week, he averaged 26.3 points and 10.7 rebounds in 37.5 minutes per game, shooting 57.1 percent overall and hitting 6-of-16 from 3-point range. Wood posted nine rebounds and three assists against Oklahoma City on 12-of-16 shooting.