MINNEAPOLIS -- Minnesota is the NBAs youngest team, averaging 23.6 years of age, yet the youthful Timberwolves entered the season with the hope of finally breaking the franchises long playoff drought.The Wolves, however, arent jelling quickly under new coach Tom Thibodeau, and a Tuesday home loss to the Charlotte Hornets didnt sit well. They will try to turn it around Thursday when they play host to the Philadelphia 76ers.Minnesota (3-7) had won two of three games before Tuesday, and the offenses performance was among the best in the league. Then the Hornets pulled away with a big second half to beat Minnesota, leaving the Timberwolves development as a postgame topic.We could use youth as an excuse forever; your opponent doesnt care that youre young, Thibodeau said. Weve got guys whove been in the league for a while now, were making mistakes that never should be made -- from fouling jump shooters, reckless passes, turnovers -- its all decision-making.The 76ers (2-9) know youthful mistakes, too. Philadelphia, the fourth-youngest team in the league, opened the season with seven straight losses. On Wednesday, the 76ers won for the second time in four games as they held onto a big lead at home to beat the Washington Wizards 109-102.Philadelphia coach Brett Brown said there was just a poise level that was fantastic.The 76ers shot 54.5 percent and had 30 assists (on 42 field goals), both season highs.Just resilient, forward Richaun Holmes said. Just determined to do anything we had to do to get a win, and we are able to stick it out to the end against a tough Washington team. Were getting better.Holmes knocked down a 3-pointer in the final minutes to help finish off the Wizards on Wednesday. Jahlil Okafor scored a season-high 19 points before fouling out. Philadelphia rested rookie center Joel Embiid, its leading scorer and rebounder who missed the past two seasons following a pair of foot surgeries.Embiid is expected to play Thursday. Brown will have both of his young centers at his disposal. Okafor is expected to play and be limited to 16 to 20 minutes.It was my teammates talking to me, Coach Brown challenging me before the game to attack, be aggressive, make good decisions; and it really benefited me, Okafor said.Embiids absence for the home game before leaving for a road trip caught some by surprise.Its just the rhythm that the medical staff has put him on, Brown said. And I think you look back -- back-to-back-type games and those types of things, with the time in between, they felt like ... if we had a choice, this game was going to be it. So I follow the marching orders of smarter people than myself.Embiid will be needed on the road at Minnesota. The 76ers have lost 20 straight games on the road, equaling the second-longest road slump in team history.Okafor should match up occasionally with Minnesotas Karl-Anthony Towns. Towns was drafted No. 1 overall by Minnesota last year, with Okafor picked third by Philadelphia. Towns has lived up to the top-draft status and is averaging 22 points and eight rebounds per game this season.However, Towns took Tuesdays loss to Charlotte particularly tough.I just have to play better, Towns said. All these losses, they fall on me. Its something Ive got to control. Its something that Ive got to be able to help us as much as possible. Third quarter, Im just not doing enough for us, and Ive got to do better.Minnesota is the leagues top-scoring team in the first quarter but the worst in the third period. The Timberwolves were outscored 36-17 in the third by the Hornets.Thibodeau was asked if Tuesdays loss was a step back for his young team.Its the commitment to improve and to learn, to not repeat the same mistakes over and over again, Thibodeau said. A big part of learning is trial and error, so when you go through something and it doesnt work, you should learn from it; the second time around, it shouldnt be the same way. That has to change. That has to change, and it has to change fast. Custom Rockies T-shirts . McCarthy, a player who played some games in the second tier for Wigan at the start of this season, would go on to shine inside Evertons midfield, outplaying the man he was brought in to replace, on one of the grandest stages in English football. On Saturday, it was fitting that Manchester Uniteds most recent dagger into the chest was delivered by Frenchman Yohan Cabaye, a wonderfully gifted central midfielder who put on an outstanding effort for Newcastle at Old Trafford. Wholesale Custom Rockies Shirts . Didier Drogba gave away the penalty that put Senegal one goal away from a major upset, but the veteran striker will get another chance -- probably his last -- at the World Cup after Salomon Kalous injury-time strike sealed the Ivorians place in Brazil next year. http://www.customrockiesjersey.com/ . Ouellette, from Montreal, already has three Olympic gold medals since joining the team in 1999. Todd Helton Jersey Large . Westbrook has missed 27 games since having a procedure on Dec. 27 to deal with swelling in his injured right knee — the third operation on the knee in nine months. Custom Rockies Jerseys . Tomas Berdych and Radek Stepanek defeated Nenad Zimonjic and Ilija Bozoljac 6-2, 6-4, 7-6 (4) on the indoor hard-court at Belgrade Arena. The victory improved the Czech pairs impressive cup doubles record to 14-1. After recently moving back to MVP Phoenix from Team Secret, Lee Forev Sang-don has now been officially subbed onto his former team for the upcoming Boston Major.According to the Dota 2 majors registration database, Lee will be subbing in for Lee Reisen Jun-yeong. Though Reisen plays four-role support, Forev is most known for his offlane play, a role currently filled by Kim Velo Tae-sung.On Twitter, MVPs mid laner Kim QO Seon-yeob clarified the situation:forev will be playing core febby back to support- QO (@QOdota) NNovember 10, 2016The move reassembles most of MVP Phoenixs TI6 lineup, with four of the five players on the starting roster having competed together in Seattle this last August, where the team took fifth/sixth place.ddddddddddddThe newly reformed MVP Phoenix will have a few weeks to practice before departing for Massachusetts to compete in the Boston Major, which kicks off on Dec. 3, 2016. ' ' '