Warriors vs. Timberwolves Point Spread: NBA Odds, Prediction
One would expect the Warriors players to be motivated the rest of the season to get the West’s top seed, but even Coach Steve Kerr has admitted the top seed isn’t as important as staying healthy. Plus, Golden State proved last year it didn’t need to be the No. 1 to win the Western Conference.
Minnesota is simply playing out the string on a disappointing season that saw Coach Tom Thibodeau fired. It remains to be seen if interim coach Ryan Saunders has done enough to warrant the full-time job. Reports are that he likely will get it. He’s the son of former Wolves coach Flip Saunders and has a good relationship with star Karl-Anthony Towns. That’s really what the NBA is about these days for a coach: Strong bond with the team’s best player.
NBA Point Spread and Betting Analysis
Warriors-Timberwolves hasn’t been much of a rivalry for a while as Golden State has won 28 of the past 34 overall and 15 of the previous 18 in the Twin Cities. The Dubs go for the four-game sweep on Friday, winning each of the first three by at least eight points.
Steph Curry is averaging 34.0 points vs. Minnesota in 2018-19 with Klay Thompson at 25.3 and Kevin Durant 24.0. Towns is putting up 23.3 points and 14.3 rebounds vs. Golden State. Toronto native Andrew Wiggins 20.7 points and 5.7 rebounds.
Golden State is 1-4 ATS in its past five at Minnesota.
Golden State Warriors
When the Warriors are engaged, they remain clearly the best team in the NBA and they come off a 15-point victory in Memphis on Wednesday. Durant made his first 10 shots and finished 12-for-13 for 28 points. It was his most overall attempts with one miss or fewer in Durant’s Hall of Fame career. The guy can’t be guarded. Curry is another future Hall of Famer who doesn’t get too many double-doubles because he’s primarily a shooter but he had one vs. the Grizzlies with 28 points and 10 rebounds.
This is the fifth consecutive season the Warriors have won at least 25 road games. The only other franchises in the NBA to match that streak in league history are the Lakers and SuperSonics. Golden State is 3-10 ATS in its past 13 after a win.
Minnesota Timberwolves
Considering it benefits the Wolves to lose as much as possible the rest of the way to improve their chances of winning the draft lottery, they already have shut down injured Derrick Rose, Jeff Teague and Robert Covington for the year. Covington and Dario Saric came over early in the season from Philadelphia in the Jimmy Butler trade.
Wiggins has had a disappointing campaign – clearly isn’t going to ever reach superstar status — in averaging 17.7 points and shooting a career-low 40.4 percent from the field. He does carry in a streak of four straight 20-point games, however. Minnesota has lost six of its past seven. The Wolves are usually tough to beat at home (23-12 SU), but they are atrocious on the road (10-29).
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