The Los Angeles Lakers (29-39) head to the Target Center Wednesday for an 8 p.m. ET tip-off with the Minnesota Timberwolves (40-30). Below, we look at the Lakers vs. Timberwolves odds and lines, and make our expert NBA picks, predictions and bets.
L.A. has lost 3 of 4 games including two straight blowout losses at the Phoenix Suns Sunday (140-111) and at home Monday to the Toronto Raptors (114-103). The Lakers’ only two wins since the All-Star game were games LeBron James scored 50 and 56 points in.
Minnesota has won eight of its last nine games — 8-1 against the spread (ATS) — which includes a 149-139 road win at the San Antonio Spurs. T-Wolves big Karl-Anthony Towns scored a franchise-record 60 points on 61.3% shooting (7-for-11 from 3) with 17 rebounds versus the Spurs.
The T-Wolves are 2-1 straight up (SU) and 3-0 ATS versus the Lakers this season but L.A. won the previous meeting 108-103 Jan. 2.
Lakers at Timberwolves 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 12:11 p.m. ET.
- Money line (ML): Lakers +340 (bet $100 to win $340) | Timberwolves -475 (bet $475 to win $100)
- Against the spread: Lakers +8.5 (-107) | Timberwolves -8.5 (-115)
- Over/Under (O/U): 241.5 (O: -115 | U: -107)
Lakers at Timberwolves key injuries
Lakers
- PF Anthony Davis (ankle) out
- SF LeBron James (knee) questionable
Timberwolves
- PG Patrick Beverley (ear) questionable
- SF Anthony Edwards (knee) probable
- PF Jarred Vanderbilt (quad) questionable
[tipico]
Lakers at Timberwolves odds, lines, picks and predictions
Prediction
Timberwolves 126, Lakers 108
Money line
PASS even though Minnesota should crush L.A. because the Timberwolves (-475) is an absolute no-go. For what it’s worth, the Lakers are 3-16 SU as road underdogs and the T-Wolves are 17-5 SU as home favorites.
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Against the spread
Lean to Minnesota’s full-game spread only because the TIMBERWOLVES -5.5 FIRST-HALF SPREAD (-112) is my favorite wager in this contest.
Minnesota is the second-most profitable first-half team in the NBA and L.A. is the second-least profitable, according to EVAnalytics.com.
Furthermore, the Lakers have a minus-16.0 first-half scoring margin over the past three games, which is the NBA’s worst. L.A. has effectively not shown up for the past few games.
In fact, the Lakers got beat much worse by the Raptors than the 114-103 final score indicates. L.A. was down 26-4 to start that game before Toronto took its foot off the gas. LeBron even scored 30 points and it didn’t matter.
This Lakers-Timberwolves should play out similarly because Minnesota shares a lot of traits with Toronto. Both teams crash the glass and pressure ball-handlers, which is terrible for the Lakers since they cannot rebound and throw a ton of turnovers.
Also, the T-Wolves should be a peak motivation and the only time we get a full Lakers effort is in primetime games. Minnesota is 7th seed in the West and only 1.5 games behind the Denver Nuggets for the sixth and final non-play-in seed.
A bet on Minnesota’s full-game spread but the TIMBERWOLVES -5.5 FIRST-HALF SPREAD (-112) is my favorite play.
Over/Under
LEAN UNDER 241.5 (-107) because I’m not confident in L.A.’s ability to score, the assigned officiating crew has a combined 69-93 O/U record and both teams have a below-average offensive FT/FGA rate.
However, I cannot fully commit to the Under because both teams like to get out in transition and L.A.’s defense is even more suspect than its offense.
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