NBA Playoffs: Memphis Grizzlies vs. Minnesota Timberwolves Preview, Odds, Prediction

The series between the Memphis Grizzlies and the Minnesota Timberwolves moves to Target Center. The T-Wolves will be the ones with the fans behind them now, and they see this as a big chance to take decisive steps toward the conference semifinals. Though, across the court are the second-seeded Grizzlies, who regained their morale following a big win in Game 2. All this promises a good game on Thursday evening. We’ve seen some very good basketball in the previous two events, and there is a high possibility to keep it like that until the end of the series.

Preview

Memphis Grizzlies (-125) bounced back ferociously in Game 2 of the series, beating the T-Wolves 124-96. After a tight opening period, they would make a push and break the rivals, constantly increasing the lead until the end.

Ja Morant had 23 points, and was the top scorer of the game, without heading to the foul line too often, having just four attempts. Morant was near a triple-double having 10 assists and seven boards. Jaren Jackson Jr. and Desmond Bane had 16 points each, but what made the difference were the buckets off the bench.

The home team had four non-starters with 10 or more points – Brandon Clarke scored 13, Xavier Tillman had the same, as well as Ziaire Williams. All these guys were very, very useful on both ends of the floor.

Minnesota Timberwolves (+125) has one of the quickest offensive paces in the NBA, but after witnessing that in Game 1, the Grizzlies stopped them in Game 2. T-Wolves delivered only 96 points, which is horrible for their standards.

Towns wasn’t anywhere near his usual scoring productivity, having just 15 points and only seven shots from the field. He did add 11 boards and two blocks. Anthony Edwards was 7-for-16 for 20 points and five boards besides that. Towns and he combined for 10 turnovers. Prince and Reid both had 12 points off the bench, each.

D’Angelo Russell is in a crisis, and this game proves that. He had only 11 buckets, 3-for-11 shooting from the field. It seems that he can’t guard Morant and that he loses too much of his energy on restraining the fantastic Grizzlies player. If the T-Wolves plan on heading to the second round, they need to find a way to help Russell on the offensive side of the ball; otherwise, they will be in trouble.

Head to Head Games

Game 1 finished with the Timberwolves’ big win, 130-117. After that, the Grizzlies responded with the same measure, winning the event 124-96. They held the rivals to 39.5% of shooting from the field and restrained them on the glass, 48-40 in boards. Also, the Grizzlies forced 20 turnovers.

Prediction

We believe that the T-Wolves will be more relaxed at home, particularly because they already won on the road. We’ve seen them playing much better at home than on the road throughout the season, and that is our key reason for betting on their win. Despite them being slight underdogs, the home-court edge will be a great boost here. Both of their wins over the Grizzlies during the regular part of the campaign were at Target Center.

Pick: Minnesota wins