Minnesota Timberwolves vs. Denver Nuggets Game 2 Prediction, Odds
Minnesota was clobbered by 29 points in Game 1 with very few positives to take away from that game. Denver will be looking to jump out to a 2-0 series lead but can Minnesota make this competitive and possibly spring the upset?
Timberwolves vs. Nuggets NBA Betting Odds
The Timberwolves are 6-2 ATS in their last eight games when going up against a team with a winning record on the season. They are also 5-2 ATS in their last seven games played on the road. As for the total, the under has hit in the Wolves’ last four games on the road when going up against a team with a winning home record.
Denver is 8-2 ATS in their last 10 games played on a Wednesday and 23-9 ATS in their last 32 games when going up against a team above .500. When it comes to their total, the under has hit in their last eight games when following a straight-up win.
Minnesota Timberwolves
The Timberwolves were handled all over the floor in Game 1 and they’ll have to make some big adjustments so that things turn out differently on Wednesday. Minnesota needs more offensive production across the board – especially from their starting lineup. Only one starter scored over 12 points in Game 1 with Anthony Edwards having 18 while shooting 6-for-15 from the field. If they want to at least give themselves a chance in this game, the offense entirely needs to improve. Karl-Anthony Towns, Rudy Gobert and Mike Conley combined for 27 points on 11-of-25 shooting. While the shooting might be improved, Minnesota will still be without Jaden McDaniels after he broke his hand punching a wall in the regular season finale.
The Timberwolves have a number of other areas to clean up too as they were just nine-of-16 from the free throw line and were out-rebounded 54-38. This won’t be a very long series unless they play a lot better in every facet of the game.
Denver Nuggets
The Nuggets decimated the Wolves in Game 1 and hope to build off that performance. Every single starter for Denver was able to score in double digits with Bruce Brown pitching in 14 points off the bench as well. This team was firing on all cylinders and getting production from multiple sources with ease en route to a 29-point victory. Repeating those efforts might not be easy, but this is a squad with talent all over the floor.
What was truly surprising was that superstar Nikola Jokic didn’t have a phenomenal performance. He scored 13 points, grabbed 14 rebounds, and dished out six assists. To think that he didn’t have his usual dominant offensive performance and yet Denver won by 29 points. Jamal Murray had 24 points, eight rebounds and eight assists, which should be quite encouraging to Nuggets bettors. Assuming Jokic ramps up his scoring moving forward, Denver can continue to cut through Minnesota with ease.
