The Minnesota Timberwolves (15-53) will have their hands full against the top shooting defense in the league when they take on the Utah Jazz (31-38) at EnergySolutions Arena. The game starts at 9:00 pm ET on Monday, Mar. 23 and will air on ROOT-NW.
The Jazz lost to the Warriors 106-91 on Saturday. Derrick Favors played well in the loss for Utah, recording 21 points and 11 rebounds to earn his 20th double-double of the season. The Timberwolves, meanwhile, are coming off a 95-92 win over the Knicks on Thursday. Gorgui Dieng had a good game, recording 19 points and 11 rebounds to claim his 17th double-double of the season.
Utah could own the offensive glass in this matchup, as they rank first in the NBA in offensive rebound percentage at 28.7%. Conversely, the Timberwolves are 29th in the league on the defensive backboards with a defensive rebound percentage of 72.6%.
The Jazz have won both contests against the Timberwolves this season, including a 101-89 victory in their last matchup. Trey Burke was the game’s leading scorer with 28 points.
Oddsmakers have deemed this game an even matchup and the Over/Under (O/U) is unavailable at the moment. The Jazz are looking to improve on their records of 31-38 Straight Up (SU) and 38-30-1 Against The Spread (ATS). They have gone 5-4 SU and 7-2 ATS against teams from their own division. Teams routinely struggle to score points against the Jazz, who allow a league-low 94.9 points per game. An area where the Jazz are particularly strong is shot blocking, where they average 6.0 blocks per game, fourth in the NBA.
On the other side, Minnesota has a SU record of 15-53 and an ATS record of 29-37-2. Although they haven’t done very well in road games against divisional foes (1-5), Minnesota does sport a nice 4-1-1 record ATS.
Following the Jazz’s latest win over Minnesota, their SU record rises to 7-3 over the Timberwolves in the last 10 meetings. The teams have an even record ATS, 5-5. When it comes to field goals, rebounds, and three-pointers, Utah held the edge in all three of these categories three times in the last 10 meetings. Minnesota did so once.
Predictions: SU Winner – UTA, ATS Winner – UTA
Notes
Utah ranks 27th in points per game with 94.7, while Minnesota ranks 30th in points allowed with an average of 105.8 given up.
Minnesota averages 98.0 points per away game (ranked 14th). However, Utah has allowed an average of just 93.7 points per home game (ranked second).
When allowing fewer than 100 points, the Jazz are 28-14 on the season. When the Timberwolves score fewer than 100, they are an underachieving 6-33.
When Utah gives up at least 100 points, it has an abysmal 3-24 record this season. Minnesota also has a losing record when it reaches the century mark (9-20).
The Timberwolves have a defensive rating of 107.9 (ranked 30th). The Jazz rank 15th for their offensive rating of 102.5.
Utah averages fewer possessions per game than Minnesota, with 92.4 compared to 98.0. However, the Jazz score an average of 1.025 points per possession, more than the .997 that the Timberwolves score.
Utah has an average effective field goal percentage of 49.5%. Minnesota is an underachieving 8-44 when opponents have a similar or higher effective field goal percentage.
Utah has an assist to turnover ratio of 1.41 this season (ranked 26th). Minnesota ranks higher with an A/TO of 1.53 (ranked 20th).
The Jazz rank 14th in rebounds per game with 43.7, while the Timberwolves rank 25th with 41.9 per game.
The Minnesota Timberwolves rank third in offensive rebounding, while the Utah Jazz rank 18th in defensive rebounding.
Minnesota is among the best in forcing turnovers, with opponents averaging a TOV% of 15.2% (ranked eighth). Utah has a 14-15 record SU when its TOV% reaches 15.2% or greater.
