Minnesota Timberwolves vs Oklahoma City Thunder betting tips and predictions for Friday’s NBA play-in game on ESPN. Winner takes all on Friday as the Timberwolves and Thunder play for the 8th seed in the Western Conference playoffs. Read on for all our free predictions and betting tips.
Minnesota Timberwolves
The Timberwolves have only themselves to blame for their disastrous ending to the game against Los Angeles on Tuesday. They led the Lakers by as many as 15 point before collapsing in the final 17 minutes of play where they scored just 16 points total. Anthony Edwards clearly wasn’t himself after he took a fall on his shoulder early in the game, he ended up going just 3-for-17 from the field without making a single three-pointer on 9 attempts.
Minnesota gets Rudy Gobert back here, after the scuffle he had with teammate Kyle Anderson it remains to be seen what kind of effect will that have on the team. The Timberwolves did win 3 of the 4 meetings with OKC during the regular season, so they’ll be basing their optimism on that stat.
Oklahoma City Thunder
Oklahoma City pulled off a massive upset last night as they went into New Orleans as 5.5 underdogs and beat the Pelicans 123-118. This young team has been written off so many times this season, but they always seem to find a way to fight back. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Josh Giddey both went over 30 points in the win, while Lu Dort added 27 on an efficient 8-for-14 shooting. They have nothing to lose going into the game against Minnesota, nobody expects them to win and the oddsmakers have made them 4.5 underdogs yet again. They might not have the necessary experience here, but they more than make up for it with their youth and enthusiasm on both ends of the court.
So far the road teams are 4-0 ATS in these play-in games and with the way things are shaping out I wouldn’t be shocked if the Thunder eliminated Minnesota here. The Timberwolves are clearly still in limbo after Gobert punched his teammate, they could have a hard time keeping up with the Thunder if Anthony Edwards is seriously injured here. I’ll take my chances with the Thunder in this one.
Minnesota Timberwolves vs Oklahoma City Thunder Predictions & Odds
Scoring, scoring and more scoring. That’s how the Thunder were able to eliminate the Pelicans in their game on Wednesday night. I do believe their strategy won’t change much in this game, but they’ll have to figure out how to get past the tall Rudy Gobert in the middle as he returns to the line-up. The last meeting in Minnesota finished with 263 points scored, I doubt we’ll get close to that number on Friday, but getting to 230 should be realistic here.
The Timberwolves and Thunder played the 7th and 5th fastest pace during the regular season averaging 102.7 and 103 possessions per game. With neither team being inside the top 10 in defensive efficiency, I am not expecting a ton of defense to be played in this game. The over looks very tempting here, so let’s back the points.
