The Minnesota Timberwolves will have a short recovery time after having played tonight against the Washington Wizards, as the new challenge in shape of New Orleans Pelicans, who rested for four days, lies ahead. Both of these franchises did whatever they could and though would improve their chances of stopping the losing, but the results have been mixed. Win here would certainly be a positive nudge going into the final month of 2017.
Timberwolves at Pelicans
Spread: New Orleans -5 (-110) at BetDSI Sportsbook
Total: over/under 218 points (-110)
The Timberwolves lose against the visiting Washington Wizards
The Minnesota Timberwolves don’t have much of a bench unit even when they’re healthy, and now with Teague and Bjelica sitting due to injuries, and Tyus Jones earning himself a start, they made Washington Wizards’ second unit as the league’s best.
Three Wolves players played more and 40 minutes, and all were positive during their court time, but for the short periods of rest, Minnesota’s game have gone missing and the Wizards would claw back in the game. Minnesota built a 13-point lead in the first quarter, a 12-point lead in the second and an eight-point lead in the fourth. Each time they’ve quickly relaxed and squandered it away. The Wizards bench outscored the Wolves counterpart 49-11 (10 of which scored by Crawford), prompting Thibodeau to play his stars extended minutes. It wouldn’t work, as fatigue kicked in late. The Wolves tallied just 18 fourth-quarter points. They shot 8 for 24 in the final frame, with Towns and Butler combining for 3-of-12 in the period. Wiggins was also 5-of-15 for the game, missing shots in the clutch and not doing much aside the 13 points he scored. As a team, the T-Wolves shot just 41.2 percent and 9-of-14 from the free throw line. They pretty much dominated the game against the main Wizards motors, neutralizing Beal, Frazier, Morris and Gortat, but suffered from immaturity and poor bench once again.
Teague and Bjelica are questionable to play once again, with next to nothing coming from the inside sources. They both participated in a Tuesday morning shootaround prior to the game against the Wizards. The Wolves play Thunder on Friday, so perhaps they’ll take it easy on them.
Place: Smoothie King Center, New Orleans, Louisiana
Date/Time: Wednesday, November 29th, 2017. 8:00 PM ET
TV Coverage: FSNO, FSN
With five players missing, the Nets no match to the Houston Rockets
For the second time this season, the New Orleans Pelicans got off to a promising start against the defending champion Golden State Warriors and saw it all fall apart quickly. After taking the first quarter 31-17, the Pelicans were outscored 93-64 the rest of the day. The loss snapped a nice three-game win streak, but the Pelicans may have just quit as soon as it became apparent that they are not going to come away with the victory in Oakland, knowing that they have a nice break coming.
Anthony Davis led the Pelicans with 30 points and 15 rebounds while Jrue Holiday chipped in 24 points (17 of which came in the first quarter), six rebounds and six assists. DeMarcus Cousins dealt with foul trouble most of the night and finished with 15 points, seven rebounds and five blocks, but also committed 6 turnovers and picked up another T. New Orleans managed to make only 41 percent of its field goals in the second half and couldn’t find enough offense to keep pace with Golden State. Defensively, the Pelicans have a nice streak going – they’ve held each of their previous four opponents under 43 percent shooting. The Warriors played sans Durant and opened up the game shooting just 7-of-27, but it was still a better part of the Pelicans game. Having Rajon Rondo in the can do that to your offense, as he finished Saturday scoreless with six assists after missing all nine of his field-goal attempts.
Cunningham left the last game with a left knee injury and it is unclear if he will play against the Timberwolves on Wednesday. Cunningham started at small forward in the first 16 games of the season, but his struggles from the perimeter (27.1 percent on 3-pointers) forced the lineup change, so for the last four games, the Pelicans actually go with three guards, Moore being placed onto the small forward position. Allen returned from his own knee troubles and will compete in limited minutes.
Minnesota Timberwolves at New Orleans Pelicans Game Trends & Prediction
The New Orleans Pelicans wouldn’t cover against the champs but have been providing for their backers lately. They are 12-8 against the spread overall so far, 5-4 at home. With three unders in a row, the balanced O/U record is now leaning towards the minus points, but only slightly (9-11).
The Minnesota Timberwolves failed to cover in either of the last six games, dealing a big strike on their ATS record. Overall, the Pack is 8-11-2 coming into the clash with Pelicans. Except against the no-defense of Orlando and Phoenix, their offense has been held in check lately. They played only three overs in a ten game span, and are 9-11 for the season.
Admi-Rank: The Pelicans have been beating expectations lately, so they are on a good rise to relevancy. The Timberwolves are good, no doubt, but are not reaching their full potential yet, suffering from inconsistent play and lack of bodies. Two teams are tied up in the rankings, so the trend might just be the deciding factor here.
Minnesota claimed the first meeting with New Orleans 104-98 on November 1st despite a rough outing for star center Karl-Anthony Towns, who was held to two points on 1-of-7 shooting by the fellow Kentucky alumni duo of Davis and Cousins. This pair should be the deciding factor this time around, but they have to do more than just score. When New Orleans wins the battle on the boards, they usually walk away with the victory. In fact, the Pelicans have won just one game thus far when they’ve finished with a rebounding disadvantage. The Wolves are usually a good rebounding team, but this is also where the energy comes into play.
The books have decided to give a 5-point early advantage to the Minnesota Timberwolves, which means that they are expecting Teague and Bjelica to play. They’ll likely to know it before we do and would change the line quickly, so there’s nothing to go after in the spread. The total has been set to 218, and that’s too high. The Wolves are likely to go to the Butler and Wiggins in the post in half court sets, which requires a slower pace and have the height to counter Davis and Cousins. The outside threats on both sides are limited and inconsistent, so I can see a lot of work required on the glass (with all those missed shots). Go under and grab a good price early.
My Pick: (no wager on the spread)
Total: Under 218 points (-110)
