Brooklyn Nets (29-16) vs. Minnesota Timberwolves (22-23)
January 23, 2022 8:00 pm EDT
The Line: Minnesota Timberwolves -1.5; Over/Under: +239
(Get latest betting odds)
The Brooklyn Nets and the Minnesota Timberwolves do battle at the Target Center on Sunday night.
The Brooklyn Nets have been in decent shape as they’ve won four of their past six games overall and they will be looking for a third straight victory after routing the Spurs in a 117-102 road win on Friday. James Harden led the team with a triple-double of 37 points with 10 rebounds and 11 assists, Kyrie Irving added 24 points while LaMarcus Aldridge chipped in with 16 points off the bench. As a team, the Nets shot 48 percent from the field and nine of 25 from the 3-point line as they struggled to get going and trailed going into halftime, before taking over in the second half where they outscored the Spurs by 67-51 to make it look easy in the end.
Meanwhile, the Minnesota Timberwolves have been in great shape as they’ve won six of their past nine games overall, but they will be hoping to bounce back after getting thrashed by the Hawks in a 134-122 road loss on Wednesday. D’Angelo Russell led the team with 31 points and five assists on 10 of 18 shooting, Anthony Edwards added 20 points while Karl-Anthony Towns tallied 17 points with 10 rebounds and seven assists. As a team, the Timberwolves shot 43 percent from the field and 17 of 46 from the 3-point line as they exploded for 42 points in the first quarter to take an early 16-point lead, but all their hard work went down the drain in the third quarter where the Hawks outscored them by 45-20 to snatch the lead and the game from them.
Looking at the betting trends, the Nets are 7-3 ATS in their last 10 road games, 1-5 ATS in their last six games following a win and 4-9 ATS in their last 13 games overall. The Timberwolves are 1-3-1 ATS in their last five games against a team with a winning record and 1-4 ATS in their last five games overall.
Head to head, the Nets are 3-14 ATS in the last 17 meetings in Minnesota and the Nets are 9-26 ATS in the last 35 meetings overall.
The Nets are going to be shorthanded once again as Nic Claxton, Paul Millsap and Joe Harris are all out, while the Timberwolves will be sweating on the availability of Patrick Beverley who is questionable for this one. The Nets have been able to keep their heads above water despite losing Kevin Durant to injury and they’re going to have to be at their best to overcome an improving Timberwolves team who are just about at full strength. The Nets are only 3-14 ATS in the last 17 meetings overall, so I’m backing the Timberwolves to get the narrow win and cover in this one.
