The shaky Washington Wizards are facing the Minnesota Timberwolves in DC. After one very strong start of the season, Wes Unseld’s boys slowed down quite a bit, showing first signs of struggle. On the other end, the Timberwolves are above the .500-percent mark, which is magnificent for the youngsters from Minneapolis. We are witnessing a remarkable improvement, and it appears that the former No.1 pick, Anthony Edwards, finally moved this franchise. This will be a very fun match to watch between two sides who are climbing up to the ranks in the NBA and have quite a bright future.
Preview
Minnesota Timberwolves (11-10, +110) have seven wins in the past eight matches, and they are finally showing their true colors. This team has arguably one of the most talented trios in the league – KAT, D-Lo, and Antman, and it was about time for them to shine.
They are heading to DC following back-to-back wins, one on the road in Philly over the 76ers, and the other against the Pacers at home, 100-98. In both events, the Timberwolves showed strong mentality and composure in the defining moments. Towns and the boys have erased a 13-point deficit to take down the Pacers.
KAT ended the night with 32 points, eight boards but with nine turnovers. Meanwhile, both Edwards and Russell added 21 buckets each, with the note that D’-Lo had 11 dimes and eight rebounds, while Edwards secured nine rebounds with five assists and three steals. So, yeah, these guys are playing both well and smart these days.
Washington Wizards (13-8, -130) won twice in the last five matches but played four away from home. Unseld’s crew had a road trip through the Midwest, facing the Pelicans, OKC, Dallas, and the Spurs. They would lose to Pels, then squeeze out wins over the Thunder and the Mavs, before being routinely handled in San Antonio, 116-99.
The Wizards allowed 71 points in the second half, while on the other side scoring only 48, which was, in fact, the main reason for this defeat. Whether that was a lack of energy or something else, they did slow down in the final phase of the event, allowing the hosts to roll over them.
The bench was pretty bad in this event, scoring only 24 points and not supporting the starters. Bradley Beal had 18 points, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope 17, while Spencer Dinwiddie ended the night with 16 buckets.
Head to Head Games
The Wizards won both games last year, the first in Minneapolis, 130-109, and the second at home, 128-112. Overall, they have a positive score against the franchise from DC, 36-25 in wins.
Prediction
This match will be fun to watch, as we mentioned in the opening paragraph. Both sides have pretty solid versatility on the offensive side of the ball, and from time to time, know to put a good defensive effort, but without some consistency in that aspect of the game. In this case, we are going with Over because of Minnesota’s good offensive skillset and the fact that the hosts don’t have too many defensive responses, meaning that they have to focus on scoring more points rather than stopping the guests from doing the same.
Pick: Over 218 points
Here is the preview of the game between the Hornets and the Bucks.
Nikola Velickovic is a sports journalist who loves to write and read on all sports. Nikola contributes both news updates and functions as a sports breaking news writer at WagerBop.
Email: nikola@wagerbop.com
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