The Dallas Mavericks and the Minnesota Timberwolves collide at the Target Center on Friday night.
The Dallas Mavericks have been in great shape as they’ve won 10 of their last 13 games overall and they will be aiming for a third straight win after routing the Rockets in a 110-91 home win on Wednesday. Jalen Brunson led the team with 28 points, Spencer Dinwiddie added 26 points with six assists while Dorian Finney-Smith chipped in with 14 points. As a team, the Mavericks shot 48 percent from the field and eight of 32 from the 3-point line as they got off to a sluggish start and trailed going into halftime, but they clamped down defensively and held the Rockets to just 38 points in the second half to pull away and make it look easy in the end.
Meanwhile, the Minnesota Timberwolves have been in similar form as they’ve won 10 of their last 13 games overall, but they will be hoping to snap a two-game skid after coming up short against the Suns in a 125-116 loss on Wednesday. Anthony Edwards led the team in scoring with 19 points, Karl-Anthony Towns, Malik Beasley and Jaylen Nowell each scored 15 points while Jarred Vanderbilt chipped in with 12 points and 12 rebounds. As a team, the Timberwolves shot 44 percent from the field and 13 of 43 from the 3-point line as they hit the ground running and poured in 64 points in the first half to take an early 15-point lead, but they couldn’t hold off the Suns and leaked 42 points in the fourth quarter to finish on the wrong side of the scoreboard. D’Angelo Russell had a night to forget as he scored just six points on three of nine shooting.
Looking at the betting trends, the Mavericks are 6-0-1 ATS in their last seven road games, 8-2 ATS in their last 10 games against a team with a winning record and 14-6-1 ATS in their last 21 games overall. The Timberwolves are 15-5-1 ATS in their last 21 home games, 4-1 ATS in their last five games against a team with a winning record and 10-3 ATS in their last 13 games overall.
Head to head, the over is 5-1 in the last six meetings overall and the Mavericks are 10-4 ATS in the last 14 meetings overall.
The Mavericks will again be shorthanded as Theo Pinson, Davis Bertans and Trey Burke are all still out, while the Timberwolves will be sweating on the availability of Karl-Anthony Towns who is currently listed as day to day. The Mavericks are coming into this game with plenty of momentum after blowing past the lowly Rockets in their last outing and you could say the same about the Timberwolves who were on fire before running into the Suns in their last outing. You can make an argument for either side here, but I’ll stick with the Timberwolves in a close one at home.