Ordinarily, a game between undefeated teams in the second week of the National Basketball Association season might not merit scrutiny. After all, there's, what, 70-something more to play?

But here at the Bradley Center, where the Minnesota Timberwolves have made themselves quite comfortable of late, there are added incentives for the Milwaukee Bucks.

No team in the league - not the Lakers, Kings, Jazz or Spurs - has enjoyed more recent success on the Bucks' home floor than the Timberwolves, who have a five-game winning streak in Milwaukee. And for the Bucks, who had the best home record in the Eastern Conference last season and have come to view the Bradley Center as an impediment for visitors, this runs especially contrary to their competitive nature.

Just as the Packers and Brewers do not like to be upstaged by their neighbors to the northwest, the Bucks have a problem with Minnesota's recent dominance. It would be more of an issue if the Timberwolves weren't in the Western Conference, a fact that prevents an actual rivalry from developing between the franchises.

Still, there are enough common elements here to allow the game tonight to transcend the workaday event, not the least of which is the fact that the winner will remain as one of two unbeaten teams left in the league.

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Milwaukee Bucks, Minnesota Timberwolves

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