After getting blown out on Friday night in Philadelphia, the Minnesota Timberwolves look to bounce back tonight against the Cleveland Cavaliers. Cleveland’s success has been one of the stories of this NBA season so far. Minnesota has had a really good season as well by their standards but making the playoffs out west will not be easy.
Minnesota Timberwolves vs. Cleveland Cavaliers
Monday, February 28, 2022 – 07:00 PM EST at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse
Wolves Look to Continue Strong Season
If the NBA season were to end today, the Minnesota Timberwolves would be a playoff team. Remember, this is a franchise that has only one playoff appearance since the 2003-04 season. So with that said, this season is a really big deal for the Timberwolves.
They've got a solid young core that they can potentially build around for years to come. They come into tonight's game against the Cavs after a disappointing loss in Philadelphia on Friday night.
Tonight they face a team that is on a similar upward trajectory when they travel to Cleveland to take on the Cavs. It might seem a little surprising to most that, according to the NBA odds, Minnesota is a -3 road favorite considering how good Cleveland has been this season.
The main reason would be the injury issues that the Cavs are dealing with right now. They don't have a starting point guard on the roster at the moment with Darius Garland out with a back injury and Rajon Rondo also unavailable for the next week or two. They're also missing Caris LeVert who has a foot injury he's dealing with.
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Cavs Keeping Things Going Despite Injuries
With what is going on globally due to the pandemic, player availability has been an issue in the NBA. The Cavs have also been hit really hard by injury.
Before the season, many would have said that Collin Sexton is the Cavs' best player. He's been injured since November 7th and when you add Ricky Rubio's injury to that, a lot of pressure falls off the shoulders of Darius Garland. He has responded better than the Cavs could have dreamed of by being selected to the Eastern Conference All-Star team.
With Garland out injured now, the Cavs don't have a point guard. LeVert does have the ability to fill in that spot temporarily but he's out injured as well. As much as I would love to take the points with the Cavs, I need more than one full possession with all of these players out right now.
Of all the positions on the court, not having a point guard is the one that will make me stay away. My official play will be on the total which sits somewhere between 219 and 218.5, depending on which of the top online sportsbooks you shop at.
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Under Has Value in This Spot
My official play on this game is the Under 219.5 (-110) at Bovada (visit our Bovada Review). There are a few reasons for my NBA pick and the main one is the defense being shown by both teams.
While the Wolves aren't elite like the Cavs, they have been solid for the entire season. Until the last few weeks, they were a top 10 defensive unit for most of the season. With all of the injury issues the Cavs have right now, I think Minnesota can really slow this offense down.
As for Cleveland, they are the 4th ranked defense in the league and they've been top 5 all season. With the way Anthony Edwards is struggling, I think the Cavs can hold Minnesota to under 110 points. In his last 11 games, Edwards is shooting 35% from the field including a horrible 25% from behind the three-point line. All of these factors are why my official play here today is under 219.5.
NBA Pick: Under 219.5 (-110) at Bovada
*The line and/or odds on picks in this article might have moved since the content was commissioned. For updated line movements, visit BMR’s free betting odds product.
