Timberwolves vs. Trail Blazers NBA Preview and Best Bet (Archive)
The Portland Trail Blazers are winning without Damian Lillard – but will the Minnesota Timberwolves spoil our NBA picks this Tuesday?
Minnesota Timberwolves vs. Portland Trail Blazers
Tuesday, January 25, 2022 – 10:00 PM EST at Moda Center
Something strange has happened to the Portland Trail Blazers: They’ve started winning. The Blazers are 6-2 SU and ATS over their past eight games, all since Damian Lillard (abdomen) went on the injured list. Golly gee whiz. We hope you’ve used our tried-and-true “fade/follow” mantra to make some coin off these developments – not that we’re claiming this old-school tactic as our own. Just the mantra(all rights reserved).
Ideally, we’d like a different team than the small-market Minnesota Timberwolves to provide the opposition. But that’s what the basketball gods have given us for Tuesday’s NBA picks, so let’s pop the hood on this bad boy and see what lies underneath.
The Edwardian Era
The Trail Blazers (20-26 SU, 19-26-1 ATS) aren’t the only team out there with personnel issues. Minnesota (23-23 SU, 23-22-1 ATS) could be without two of their most important players for this matchup; some sources have Anthony Edwards listed as questionable with a sore knee, and Patrick Beverley is day-to-day with a sprained right ankle. Maybe that’s why the NBA odds are still on hold as I write this.
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Just when the Timberwolves were getting healthy again. They’ve started the New Year off with a bang at 7-4 SU and 6-5 ATS, moving up into seventh place in the Western Conference standings; if the play-in tournament started right now, Minnesota would face the No. 10 Trail Blazers. Delightful. Also, the Wolves had their entire starting five intact when they beat Portland 116-111 on December 12 as 3-point road dogs. They’ll be a lot easier to fade if Edwards (plus-1.9 BPM at Basketball Reference) and Beverley (plus-3.1 BPM) both sit.
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CJ Run
This will be a different Portland team no matter what. Lillard (plus-1.5 BPM) won’t be playing, but CJ McCollum (plus-0.6 BPM) will, and he’s been on a hot streak since recovering from that collapsed lung he suffered in December. McCollum is 14-for-28 from downtown in the four games he’s played, and his defense has improved, too, helping the Blazers go 3-1 SU and ATS despite the absence of Lillard.
Or because of? That depends on what you think of Anfernee Simons (minus-0.5 BPM). Lillard’s back-up is playing the best basketball of his young career, enough to give Portland some serious betting value when it comes to the NBA lines. However, Simons is just as imbalanced towards offense as the man he’s replacing – and he’s not in Lillard’s league yet when it comes to running the point.
Help is on the way. Norman Powell (minus-0.8 BPM) will apparently make his return Tuesday after a spell in league protocol, bringing some of that veteran backcourt savvy that Portland
NBA Pick: Trail Blazers +3 (-108) at Heritage Sports (visit our Heritage Sports Review)
*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.