NBA: Minnesota Timberwolves vs Los Angeles Lakers Preview, Odds, Prediction

The LA Lakers have a nice chance to win their third event in a row, as the champions host Minnesota Timberwolves, arguably the worst team in the league. The purple and gold continue to play well, even though they lack Anthony Davis, and so far, LeBron and the crew had been hanging on quite solid without AD. On the other side, the Timberwolves showed some flashes of their potential in the past few days, but this team is far away from being anything but mediocre at the moment.

Preview

Minnesota Timberwolves (9-30, +350) won two in the last three, beating the New Orleans Pelicans, 135-105 and the Portland Trail Blazers, 114-112. The one against Dame and the crew was the second of their back-to-back events, and it took place on Sunday night.

We saw fantastic Anthony Edwards, the top pick from this year’s draft scoring 34 points, and having several of his highlight-reel dunks against the Trail Blazers. Edwards scored six threes in 14 attempts, which is something he didn’t frequently do in the past. With the All-Star Game behind us, many expect to see this guy dramatically improving his level of play, and we might say that Edwards looked much better over the previous three games.

Karl-Anthony Towns had 15 points with 8 boards and assists, the same as Ricky Rubio. Timberwolves scored 46 points from the paint, using the fact that Portland had trouble with big players.

Los Angeles Lakers (26-13, -430) blew out the Golden State Warriors last night in Chase Center, 128-97, which was their second win in a row and proof that the All-Star pause suited them well. LeBron and the crew had some time to recharge their batteries, and after a comeback win against the Pacers came a big triumph against the big rivals.

James had another triple-double, finishing last night’s match with 22 points, 11 assists, and 10 rebounds, all that in 30 minutes of play. Montrezl Harrell was the team’s best player with 27 points in 25 minutes, coming off the bench and missing just three of his 14 shots. Talen Horton-Tucker once again showed his potential, having 18 buckets and 10 dimes while shooting 7-for-10 from the field.

The Lakers had a fantastic 62.8% shooting from the field and eventually limited the Warriors to 30 boards, which is impressive.

Head to Head Games

This is the third game of the season between the Lakers and the Timberwolves, with the champs winning both previous. The one at Staples was 127-91, and the second in Minneapolis 112-104 in LAL’s favor. LeBron would score 30 with 13 boards and seven assists in that one, while on the other side, Edwards dropped 28.

Prediction

The Lakers will win this one, and anything else comes out of the question. They are simply in the position in which they can’t afford to have any losses because of the race for the top spot in the conference and the league as well. Even without Davis, the purple and gold are much better than the Timberwolves. Really, it’s a no-brainer. Take the Lakers’ win, even though the profits might be too small. The risk is even smaller.