NBA: Minnesota Timberwolves vs. Phoenix Suns Preview, Odds, Prediction

The Minnesota Timberwolves head to sunny Arizona, where they meet with one of the biggest title contenders, the Phoenix Suns. For the moment, these two teams have a positive record, with the Suns being much higher in the standings than the Wolves, but given that it is still early on, this could change quickly. Both teams play good and fast basketball, meaning that Tuesday’s clash should be interesting to watch. 

Preview

Minnesota Timberwolves (4-3, +175) won back-to-back games, both at home, against the Spurs and the Lakers. At first, the T-Wolves beat the Spurs, 134-122, and after that defeated the sorry Lakers, 111-102.

Anthony Davis took over this team when he landed in Minneapolis, and the fantastic guard is currently the top scorer and the biggest star. He drops 23 points per night and has 6.1 boards and 4.4 assists. Though Karl-Anthony Towns is the most influential guy, with 21.3 points, 8 boards, and 5.3 dimes. 

We thought that the T-Wolves would take a step forward when talking about the defense, with Rudy Gobert coming to town, but for the moment, that isn’t the case, because Minnesota still allows 110+ points on average. Though, as long as Edwards, KAT and D-Lo work well on the offensive side, that isn’t a problem. 

Phoenix Suns (5-1, -210) are strong, as expected. The Suns’ only failure was in Portland following an OT against the Trail Blazers, but after that, Monty Williams’ crew bounced back winning three in a row, all playoff and title contenders.

At first, they rolled over the Clippers on the road, 112-95, then we saw the Suns beating the NBA champions, the Warriors, and not only beating them, but pretty much humiliating Curry and the crew, 134-105. The most recent success was also at home, against the New Orleans Pelicans, 124-111.

It was a pleasure to see Mikal Bridges in this event, because the small forward had 27 points, missing only three of his 13 free-throw attempts. The hosts lost Deandre Ayton, but that wasn’t a problem because they have a versatile offense. Booker was not in the mood, having just 16 points, which is almost as twice as few as his average – of 29.3. Cam Johnson scored the same number of buckets, and Torey Craig added 13, Cam Payne one fewer. 

Head to Head Games

The Suns won all three meetings last year, and they currently ride a streak of four triumphs over the conference rivals. Two of the victories were in Minneapolis, while one took place at the Footprint Center.

Prediction

Well, these teams like to push hard on the offensive side, and when looking at their scoring averages, we expect a very efficient matchup here. Our pick for Tuesday’s matchup is over, because anything other than this doesn’t make sense. Ayton is out, and that will only spped up the Suns’ game. Also, regarding the winner, we wouldn’t go there because both teams look to be in good shape and even though the Suns have a home-court edge, we aren’t 100% sure they will win. It is much safer to bet on high efficiency. Odds on our recommendation are at -110, and that is totally fine. 

Pick: Over 228.5 points –10