The Toronto Raptors pay a visit to the Minnesota Timberwolves at the Target Center on Wednesday night.
The Toronto Raptors have been in decent shape as they’ve won eight of their past 11 games overall, but they will be hoping to snap a two-game skid after getting thrashed by the Pelicans in a 120-90 road loss on Monday. Fred VanVleet led the team with 20 points, Pascal Siakam added 18 points while Chris Boucher chipped in with 15 points off the bench. As a team, the Raptors shot a season-low 30 percent from the field and eight of 34 from the 3-point line as they managed just 17 points in the first quarter to fall behind by double-digits early and they just never found their footing as the deficit only grew as the game wore on. Gary Trent Jr. had a night to forget as he scored just six points on two of 15 shooting while Scottie Barnes scored just five points on two of 10 shooting.
Meanwhile, the Minnesota Timberwolves have been in fine form as they’ve won seven of their past nine games overall and they will be eager to stay hot after sneaking past the Hornets in a 126-120 overtime home win last night. Karl-Anthony Towns led the team with 39 points, 15 rebounds and three assists, D’Angelo Russell and Jalen McDaniels each scored 18 points while Patrick Beverley chipped in with 15 points, seven rebounds and four assists. As a team, the Timberwolves shot just 39 percent from the field and 13 of 55 from the 3-point line as they clawed their way back from a 13-point deficit to force overtime where they opened with a 15-7 run to escape with the hard-fought victory.
Looking at the betting trends, the Raptors are 5-1 ATS in their last six road games, 20-7 ATS in their last 27 games against a team with a winning record and 23-8 ATS in their last 31 games overall. The Timberwolves are 1-4 ATS in their last five games playing on zero days’ rest, 5-0 ATS in their last five home games and 6-2 ATS in their last eight games overall.
Head to head, the under is 5-2 in the last seven meetings overall, the Raptors are 12-4 ATS in the last 16 meetings in Minnesota and the Raptors are 4-1 ATS in the last five meetings overall.
The Raptors will be sweating on the availability of Fred VanVleet who is listed as questionable, while the Timberwolves will likely be without Anthony Edwards who is dealing with a sprained right ankle. This one could go down to the wire as both teams are pretty evenly matched in this one, but the Raptors are 12-4 ATS in the last 16 meetings in Minnesota and I like their chances of bouncing back with a narrow win in this spot.