The New York Knicks (19-22) travel to the Target Center for a Thursday night outing against the Minnesota Timberwolves (27-16).

New York has been stuck in a rut as they try to remain in the Eastern Conference playoff picture. They lost their most recent game, four of their last five, and eight of their last ten. On Wednesday, they fell to the Chicago Bulls for the third time this season by the score of 122-119 in double overtime. The Knicks allowed Lauri Markkanen to tie a Bulls rookie record with eight threes. Jarrett Jack recorded the second triple-double of his career with 16 points, ten rebounds, and ten assists.

The Timberwolves have won three straight entering Friday’s game. They defeated the Oklahoma City Thunder 104-88 on Wednesday. They held the Thunder to just 40.5 percent shooting from the field and 6-25 from downtown. Jimmy Butler had a superb all-around game with 26 points, seven rebounds, eight assists, four steals, and two blocks.

Lineups

Knicks: PG - Jarrett Jack, SG - Tim Hardaway Jr. (Courtney Lee if Hardaway Jr. isn’t available), SF - Courtney Lee (Lance Thomas if Hardaway Jr. isn’t available), PF - Kristaps Porzingis, C - Enes Kanter

Timberwolves: PG - Jeff Teague, SG - Jimmy Butler, SF - Andrew Wiggins, PF - Taj Gibson, C - Karl-Anthony Towns

Stat leaders

Knicks: Points - Kristaps Porzingis 23.7, Rebounds - Enes Kanter 10.1, Assists - Jarrett Jack 6.1

Timberwolves: Points - Jimmy Butler 21.6, Rebounds - Karl-Anthony Towns 11.9, Assists - Jeff Teague 7.1

Injury report

Knicks: Questionable - Tim Hardaway Jr.

(leg)

Timberwolves: Out - Justin Patton (toe)

Things to know

Courtney Lee did not attempt a free throw in Wednesday’s game against the Bulls and still remains two away from breaking Chris Duhon’s team record of 44 consecutive made foul shots.

In a league that sees three-point attempts increase yearly, the Knicks and Timberwolves rank near or at the bottom in how often they shoot from downtown.

Minnesota ranks 27th out of 30 teams in threes made per game (8.0) and attempts (22.7). New York makes (7.6) and attempts (21.3) the least.

Jimmy Butler has been one of the best scorers in the league since the start of December. In 21 games, he has averaged 25.6 points on 49.6 percent field goal shooting and 91.0 percent shooting from the charity stripe.

He has scored at least 20 points in 18 of those 21 outings.

Knicks/Timberwolves history

The Knicks and Timberwolves have met 54 times in the regular season. New York holds the advantage in the head-to-head win column with a 32-22 record.

The Knicks have held the upper hand recently when up against Minnesota. They swept the two-game series last season, have won four straight, and nine of the last 12.