Brooklyn Nets (37-29) vs. Minnesota Timberwolves (34-33)
March 10, 2023 8:00 pm EDT
The Line: Minnesota Timberwolves -4.5; Over/Under: -
(Get latest betting odds)
The Brooklyn Nets and the Minnesota Timberwolves duke it out at the Target Center on Friday night.
The Brooklyn Nets were starting to heat up as they had reeled off three wins on the trot before they ran into the Bucks in a 118-113 road loss last night. Patty Mills led the team in scoring with 23 points, seven rebounds and four assists off the bench, Cam Thomas added 21 points while Dru Smith chipped in with 17 points. As a team, the Nets shot just 39 percent from the field and 14 of 36 from the 3-point line as they struggled to match the Bucks early on and got torched by 37-20 in the first quarter which opted the coach to bench the starters. In fact, Mikal Bridges was the only starter to finish in double figures in scoring as he scored 10 points on four of 13 shooting.
Meanwhile, the Minnesota Timberwolves were in similar form as they too were on a three-game win streak before they got stopped in their tracks by the 76ers in a 117-94 loss on Tuesday. Anthony Edwards led the team with 32 points on 12 of 24 shooting, Taurean Prince added 13 points while Naz Reid chipped in with 11 points, but no other player finished in double figures in scoring. As a team, the Timberwolves shot just 39 percent from the field and 11 of 36 from the 3-point line, but the Timberwolves were always fighting an uphill battle after getting outscored by 34-18 in the second quarter. Mike Conley had a quiet game of just six points on one of six shooting while Jaden McDaniels scored just three points on one of six shooting.
Looking at the betting trends, the Nets are 5-1 ATS in their last six Friday games. The Timberwolves are 1-4 ATS in their last five home games and 12-5 ATS in their last 17 games against a team with a winning record.
Head to head, the over is 6-2 in the last eight meetings in Minnesota, the Nets are 5-16 ATS in the last 21 meetings in Minnesota and the Nets are 9-27 ATS in the last 36 meetings overall.
The Nets are shorthanded once again as Nic Claxton, Spencer Dinwiddie, Ben Simmons and Cam Johnson are all out, while the Timberwolves are still missing Karl-Anthony Towns and Jaylen Nowell. The Nets’ starters got benched early last night and it was the reserves who rallied to take it to the Bucks in a close one, so I’m expecting the starters to come out swinging in this one, but the Timberwolves have the advantage of extra rest in this one as they haven’t played since Tuesday. The Nets are only 5-16 ATS in the last 21 meetings in Minnesota and I expect that trend to continue as the Timberwolves take advantage of a Nets team playing their second game of a back to back set.
