Utah Jazz (1-0) vs. Minnesota Timberwolves (1-0)
October 21, 2022 8:00 pm EDT
The Line: Minnesota Timberwolves -8.5; Over/Under: +226
(Get latest betting odds)
The Utah Jazz and the Minnesota Timberwolves duke it out at the Target Center on Friday night.
The Utah Jazz will be looking to keep their foot on the gas after blowing past the Nuggets in a 123-102 upset win on Wednesday. Collin Sexton led the team in scoring with 20 points in just 21 minutes off the bench, Lauri Markkanen added 17 points, Rudy Gay scored 16 points while Malik Beasley chipped in with 15 points. As a team, the Jazz shot 50 percent from the field and 16 of 38 from the 3-point line as they jumped all over the Nuggets right from the start and never looked in danger after exploding for 75 points in the first half.
Meanwhile, the Minnesota Timberwolves will be looking to build on their 115-108 home win over the Thunder on Wednesday. Rudy Gobert led the team with 23 points and 16 rebounds on 10 of 15 shooting, D’Angelo Russell added 20 points while Jaden McDaniels chipped in with 19 points. As a team, the Timberwolves shot just 41 percent from the field and 10 of 38 from the 3-point line as they squandered an early 16-point lead, before making up for it in the fourth quarter where they restricted the Thunder to just 21 points to pull away and earn the victory.
Looking at the betting trends, the Jazz are 6-20-1 ATS in their last 27 road games and 17-35-2 ATS in their last 54 games against a team with a winning record. The Timberwolves are 1-6 ATS in their last seven home games and 2-6 ATS in their last eight games following a win.
Head to head, the over is 4-0 in the last four meetings overall, the Jazz are 1-5-1 ATS in the last seven meetings overall and the Jazz are 14-6 ATS in the last 20 meetings in Minnesota.
The new-look Jazz really ambushed the Nuggets in an impressive win on Wednesday and it was pure effort as they clearly looked like the team who wanted it more. The Timberwolves will be disappointed that they blew a big lead against the Thunder, but they were still good enough to get the job done in the end despite shooting just 41 percent from the field. The Jazz looked great in their win at home, but it’ll be tough to replicate that effort on the road and they are only 1-5-1 ATS in the last seven meetings overall. With that being said, I’m leaning towards the Timberwolves to get the win and cover in this spot.
