NBA Play-In: Minnesota Timberwolves vs. LA Lakers Preview, Odds, Predictions

The Minnesota Timberwolves face the LA Lakers in the first round of the Western Conference play-in tournament. This is the battle for seventh place in the West and the winner of this event will enter the playoffs and meet the Memphis Grizzlies. The Lakers are the hosts at their Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles. We’ve seen the purple and gold oscillating a lot this year, but they are looking pretty confident and good for the moment. On the other side, Minnesota experiences turbulences for the moment, with the team’s chemistry severely shaken after the recent incident between Rudy Gobert and Kyle Anderson.

In the meantime, here is the preview for the game Atlanta Hawks vs. Miami Heat and the Chicago Bulls vs. Toronto Raptors.

Preview

Minnesota Timberwolves (+225) won the last three events, but the situation isn’t good at all in Minneapolis. Rudy Gobert hit his teammate, Kyle Anderson, during the game against the Pels, and the Frenchman was immediately sent home at the halftime break. Will he start the game against the Lakers? Nobody knows.

His absence would be a big minus for the T-Wolves because they don’t have another center able to compete with Anthony Davis, who is in excellent shape these days. 

Anthony Edwards is the best thing the guests have on their roster. He averages 24.6 points per game, with 5.7 boards and 4.4 assists, and with 21 years of age, the Antman is already among the best shooting guards in the league.

LA Lakers (-280) won six of the past seven events and are in superb form coming into the play-in tournament. LeBron is back, but we need to say that all this improvement isn’t because of him, but Anthony Davis, with the fantastic center named the Player of the Week recently.

The only defeat this unit had was against the LA Clippers, and it cost them a place in the playoff zone. Yet shortly after that, the purple and gold bounced back with back-to-back victories 121-107 over Phoenix and 128-117 against the Jazzers. 

The previous eight of their games all ended with Over, and that’s another sign that the Lakers’ machinery is on the rise. Throughout the entire season, LAL was oriented more toward scoring, and once they have fluid ball movement, they usually win. 

Head to Head Games

The Timberwolves and the Lakers met three times this season. Minnesota won twice, and the Lakers once. T-Wolves triumphed in the first meeting in late October, 111-102 at home, and after that in early March in LA, 110-102. The most recent event was on March 31 in Minneapolis, when LAL ended up on the winning side, 123-111.

Predictions

The situation with Gobert definitely did damage the T-Wolves’ morale. And if he isn’t available for the game in LA, that would be yet another blow for the Timberwolves. Yet to be honest, even if Rudy plays, the Lakers would still be our pick. They are playing good basketball, and so are the guests, but the home-court edge will play a big factor here. We rarely saw LeBron losing games at home in the early stage of the playoffs. The officials have different criteria for the LAL in the playoffs, which will for sure play a role, and that’s why we pick the hosts to win.

Pick: LA Lakers -280