Minnesota Timberwolves vs Los Angeles Lakers betting tips and predictions for Friday’s NBA game on NBA TV. The Timberwolves look to sweep the regular season series against the Lakers as the two teams meet up for the 3rd and final time this season. Read on for all our free predictions and betting tips.
Minnesota Timberwolves
You’d think that at 4-1 SU in their last 5 games, plus a 2-0 lead in the regular season series would put the Minnesota Timberwolves as favorites ahead of tonight’s game, but it’s not as simple as that. The Timberwolves have been hit by the injury bug hard and they have 7 players questionable for tonight’s game. That includes Austin Rivers, Kyle Anderson, Karl-Anthony Towns, Taurean Prince and Anthony Edwards.
One of their most consistent players as of late Naz Reid has a broken wrist, so he definitely won’t be playing. That’s a massive loss for the Wolves as he’s been averaging over 15 points per game in his last 9 outings. At Target Center this team is only 1-5 ATS in their last 6, and in their last 6 games played on a Friday they have only 1 victory.
Los Angeles Lakers
Bringing back LeBron James into the starting line-up proved to be the winning move for head coach Darvin Ham as the Lakers got revenge on the Bulls with a 121-110 victory at United Center on Wednesday. They’re now at 38-38 SU for the season, and have a chance to go over the .500 mark for the first time in a long while. It sounds simpler than it actually is, the Lakers have beaten Minnesota just once in the last 6 meetings and have failed to cover the spread in all 6 of those games.
There won’t be a lack of optimism in their ranks though, as they’ve won 4 of their last 5 games and have covered the spread in 4 of their last 6 overall. Point guard D’Angelo Russell also returned from injury, that’s going to be a massive boost for the purple and gold as they seed to climb up even further in the West standings.
If it wasn’t for the injury situation, I’d favor Minnesota here, but with 5 important rotation players potentially not being able to play I have to give the edge to the road team. Back the Lakers to cover in this one.
Minnesota Timberwolves vs Los Angeles Lakers Predictions & Odds
Both meetings so far this season between LA and Minnesota finished under the total with just 213 and 212 points scored. With the way the two teams have performed lately there’s potential of another low scoring game here. The under has cashed in the last 5 Lakers’ visits to Minnesota and in their last 10 games in 13 outings against Western Conference opponents. Generally the under has been the bet to place in LA games since the all-star break as 12 of their last 18 have landed on that bet.
The return of LeBron James should speed things up a bit pace wise, but I’m afraid the Timberwolves won’t have enough players available here to keep up with the fast tempo. They too have gone under in 6 of 7 games vs West teams, plus their last 6 against the Lakers have all cashed on the under. With only 221.5 points per game averaged in the last 10 head-to-head, I feel like backing the under is the best way to approach tonight’s game.
