New Orleans Pelicans vs Minnesota Timberwolves 11/22/2021 NBA Picks, Best Bets and Odds

The Minnesota Timberwolves and the New Orleans Pelicans duke it out at the Smoothie King Center on Monday night.

The Minnesota Timberwolves have yet to fully hit their stride this season, but they’ve been in decent shape and they will gunning for a fourth straight victory after making light work of the Grizzlies in a 138-95 home win on Saturday. D’Angelo Russell led the team with 28 points and five assists, Anthony Edwards added 23 points on eight of 10 shooting while Karl-Anthony Towns chipped in with 21 points. As a team, the Timberwolves shot 53 percent from the field and a sizzling 20 of 41 from the 3-point line as they exploded for 72 points in the first half, before pouring in another 41 points in the third quarter to lead by as many as 45 points. No starter played more than 27 minutes as the game was decided by halftime in what was their biggest win of the season.  

Meanwhile, the New Orleans Pelicans have been in terrible shape this season as they’ve lost 15 of their first 18 games and they will be hoping to bounce back after getting thrashed by the Pacers in a 111-94 road loss on Saturday. Jonas Valanciunas led the team in scoring with 19 points and 13 rebounds, Naji Marshall added 14 points while Brandon Ingram and Keldon Lewis Jr. each scored 12 points. As a team, the Pelicans shot just 39 percent from the field and six of 18 from the 3-point line as they struggled right from the start and fell behind by double-digits in the first quarter, before getting blown out in the third quarter where they were outscored by 38-18 to fall behind by as many as 32 points. Josh Hart scored just seven points on three of seven shooting while Nickeil Alexander-Walker scored just six points on two of nine shooting.

Looking at the betting trends, the Timberwolves are 5-13-2 ATS in their last 20 games following a win of more than 10 points and 4-0 ATS in their last four games overall. The Pelicans are 4-1 ATS in their last five home games, 1-4 ATS in their last five games following a loss of more than 10 points and 3-8 ATS in their last 11 games overall.

Head to head, the over is 13-3 in the last 16 meetings in New Orleans and the Timberwolves are 5-1 ATS in the last six meetings in New Orleans.

The Timberwolves could be without Naz Reid for this one, while the Pelicans could be without Devonte’ Graham who is listed as questionable. Based on recent form, the Timberwolves are clearly the team in better, Edwards and Towns are putting up consistent numbers and they are coming into this one fresh off a massive win over the Grizzlies. The Timberwolves are 5-1 ATS in the last six meetings in New Orleans and I think that trend continues here as the Timberwolves get off to another quick start and escape with the win.