The Golden State Warriors (43-18) begin a four-game road trip with a visit to the Minnesota Timberwolves (33-29) this Tuesday evening. The Warriors lost 107-101 at home to Dallas on Sunday night. Minnesota won 127-122 in Cleveland last night. Read on to take a look at the NBA odds.
Golden State Warriors vs. Minnesota Timberwolves
Tuesday, March 1, 2022 – 08:00 PM EST at Target Center
The Timberwolves (32-29-1 ATS) are a 1-point favorite over the Warriors (30-27-4 ATS) at BMR’s top-rated sportsbooks. With the Warriors at No. 2 and Minnesota hanging onto the No. 7 seed in the Western Conference, this could be a first-round playoff series as the teams meet for the fourth and final time this regular season. Can the Timberwolves get a good win over a shorthanded Golden State team?
Season Series: Warriors Lead 2-1
None of the games between these teams this season have been particularly close with Golden State getting the best of the Timberwolves. In the first meeting in November when the Warriors got off to that hot 10-1 start, Anthony Edwards’ 48 points were not enough to overcome a cold night from his teammates in a 123-110 loss. Andrew Wiggins had a season-high 35 points for Golden State.
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In a January rematch, Edwards scored just nine points while Wiggins had 12 for the Warriors despite Stephen Curry being inactive. Minnesota won 119-99 after big runs in the first and fourth quarters. Without Curry, Draymond Green, or Klay Thompson, the Warriors shot just 39.0% from the field.
In the most recent meeting in late January, a tight first half was blown open by a classic Golden State third-quarter domination. The Warriors won the quarter 38-20 by shooting 7-of-9 from three. They went on to win the game 124-115 as Curry returned to score 29 points.
Golden State is 32-5 this season when Curry shoots at least 39.0% from the field. However, four of those five losses have come in Golden State’s last six games.
Recent Play
Minnesota just wrapped up a solid February that saw them go 8-4 compared to a 5-5 record for the Warriors. During the month, Minnesota ranked No. 5 in Offensive Rating and No. 25 in Defensive Rating, leaning heavily on the offense to win games. The Warriors’ month of mediocrity saw them finish No. 13 in Offensive Rating and No. 16 in Defensive Rating, a far cry from their No. 1 ranking in Defensive Rating on the season.
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For Minnesota, Edwards needs to shake out of a shooting slump. In the last four games, he is averaging 8.8 points and shooting 21.4% from the field. Karl-Anthony Towns, fresh off winning the three-point shooting contest, has picked up the slack. His late threes helped the Timberwolves win in Cleveland last night.
The Warriors have been playing without Draymond Green since early January, but Klay Thompson was inactive too on Sunday against Dallas with what is described as a general illness. It reportedly will sideline him to start this road trip, so no Thompson again, putting more pressure on Curry and Andrew Wiggins.
Playing shorthanded on Sunday, the Warriors faded late against Dallas, getting outscored 33-13 in the fourth quarter in a loss despite leading for more than 43 minutes. The Warriors shot 5-of-21 in the fourth quarter. Curry is only 6-of-24 from three over the last three games. Outside of a 132-point explosion in Portland, Golden State’s offense has been pretty tame over the last eight games.
Prediction
There are still over 20 games left in the regular season, but it would not be a surprise to see these teams meet in the first round of the playoffs. Golden State should be in much better shape by then with Green and Thompson hopefully back together, but with them out on Tuesday night, I like Towns to lead the Timberwolves to a win and even the season series for your NBA picks.
NBA Pick: Timberwolves -1 (-110) with Bovada (visit our Bovada Review)
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