The Minnesota Timberwolves (43-32) stop by TD Garden Sunday to play the Boston Celtics (46-28) at 6 p.m. ET. Below, we look at the Timberwolves vs. Celtics odds and lines, and make our expert NBA picks, predictions and bets.
Minnesota is 4-2 straight up (SU) and against the spread (ATS) over the past two weeks with the latest game being a 116-95 beatdown of the Dallas Mavericks Friday as a 4.5-point home favorite.
Boston is on a five-game win streak (4-1 ATS), which includes a sweep of its four-game Western Conference road swing and a 125-97 whooping of the Utah Jazz at home Wednesday.
The T-Wolves snapped a nine-game losing skid to the Celtics Dec. 27 with a 108-103 win in Minnesota as 5-point home underdogs. Boston is 8-1-1 ATS versus the T-Wolves over their last 10 meetings.
Timberwolves at Celtics odds, spread and lines
Odds provided by Tipico Sportsbook; access USA TODAY Sports Scores and Sports Betting Odds hub for a full list. Lines last updated at 12:48 p.m. ET.
- Money line (ML): Timberwolves +200 (bet $100 to win $200) | Celtics -250 (bet $250 to win $100)
- Against the spread: Timberwolves +6.5 (-120) | Celtics -6.5 (-105)
- Over/Under (O/U): 228.5 (O: -115 | U: -107)
Timberwolves at Celtics key injuries
Timberwolves
- SG Malik Beasley (ankle) out
- PF Jaden McDaniels (ankle) out
Celtics
- SG Jaylen Brown (knee) probable
- C Al Horford (personal) out
- SF Jayson Tatum (knee) probable
[tipico]
Timberwolves at Celtics odds, lines, picks and predictions
Prediction
Celtics 119, Timberwolves 111
Money line
PASS.
Boston should cruise past Minnesota but the Celtics (-250) are out of my price range for an NBA regular-season ML favorite. According to CleaningTheGlass.com (CTG), Boston has the league’s best adjusted net rating versus teams with a top-10 net efficiency (plus-6.4).
However, I’d rather bet Boston’s spread than lay it with the money line.
PASS.
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Against the spread
BET the CELTICS -6.5 (-105) because they have the best ATS margin versus top-10 teams (plus-7.2), per CTG. Boston is 22-12-1 ATS versus teams with a winning record and 11-6 ATS as 5-to-7-point favorites.
On the other hand, Minnesota is 5-12-1 ATS on the road versus winning teams, 1-6 ATS in its last seven games as a road underdog and 0-7-1 ATS in its last eight visits to Boston.
The Celtics also have a strength-on-weakness edge over the T-Wolves in manipulating the officials. Boston is eighth in non-garbage time offensive free-throw attempt rate and Minnesota is dead-last in non-garbage time defensive free-throw attempt rate, per CTG.
The CELTICS -6.5 (-105) is my favorite wager in this game.
Over/Under
Slight LEAN to the OVER 228.5 (-115) because the oddsmakers are trying to entice bettors into taking a cheaper Under, the assigned officiating crew has a combined 92-72 O/U record and these teams have a combined 47-24 O/U record versus teams with a winning record.
However, this is a sharp total and my prediction aligns pretty closely with the market’s projected score so there isn’t much value for me in this number.
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