Denver Nuggets (55-29) vs. Minnesota Timberwolves (43-43)
April 21, 2023 9:30 pm EDT
The Line: Minnesota Timberwolves +2.5; Over/Under: +223
(Get latest betting odds)
The Minnesota Timberwolves play host to the Denver Nuggets in a pivotal Game 3 at the Target Center on Friday night.
The Denver Nuggets are now gunning for a 3-0 series lead after outlasting the Timberwolves in a 122-113 home win in Game 3 on Wednesday. Jamal Murray caught fire to lead the team with 40 points and five assists on 13 of 22 shooting, Nikola Jokic tallied 27 points with nine rebounds and nine assists while Michael Porter Jr chipped in with 16 points on five of seven shooting. As a team, the Nuggets shot 54 percent from the field and 10 of 22 from the 3-point line as they hit the ground running and stormed their way to an early 21-point lead, but it wasn’t all smooth sailing as they had to rally late after the Timberwolves erased their lead with a monster run in the third quarter.
Meanwhile, the Minnesota Timberwolves will have mixed emotions coming out of Game 2 as they played well but are still facing a 2-0 series deficit going back home. Anthony Edwards led the team with a game-high 41 points on 14 of 23 shooting, Rudy Gobert added 19 points with eight rebounds and four assists while Mike Conley chipped in with 14 points and seven assists. As a team, the Timberwolves shot 50 percent from the field and 14 of 31 from the 3-point line as they worked hard to run down a 21-point deficit and take the lead after three quarters, only to allow 35 points in the fourth quarter to let the Nuggets off the hook. Karl-Anthony Towns had a rough game as he finished with just 10 points on three of 12 shooting while Rudy Gobert was plagued by foul trouble the entire game along with Taurean Prince who played just 18 minutes.
Looking at the betting trends, the Nuggets are 4-0 ATS in their last four Conference Quarterfinals games and 4-1 ATS in their last five games overall. The Timberwolves are 2-7 ATS in their last nine home games and 2-5 ATS in their last seven Conference Quarterfinals games.
Head to head, the over is 6-2-1 in the last nine meetings overall and the Nuggets are 23-7-1 ATS in the last 31 meetings in Minnesota.
The Nuggets were able to avoid catastrophe after wasting a 21-point lead on Wednesday, but they took care of business and are now just two wins from moving onto the second round. The Timberwolves showed plenty of fight to come close to pulling off the upset, but it was too much of a one-man show as Anthony Edwards was the only player to really get going. The Timberwolves need this win to avoid facing a 3-0 series deficit, but with the line so short, I’d rather go with the Nuggets who have looked so good with Jokic, Murray and Porter Jr. back on the court together.
