The No. 8 Minnesota Timberwolves head back to the Toyota Center this Wednesday night in an effort to extend their opening-round best-of-seven playoff series past Game 5 against the No. 1 Houston Rockets. Tip-off for this Western Conference tilt is set for 9:30 p.m. on TNT.
Minnesota at Houston Game Overview
Minnesota lost the first two games of this series on the road as a double-digit underdog. After covering as an 11.5-point underdog in a tight 104-101 loss in Game 1, it was on the wrong end of a lopsided 102-82 loss in Game 2 as a 10-point underdog. The total stayed UNDER the closing line in both of those contests. The Timberwolves have gone 2-4 straight-up in their last six road games with an even 3-3 mark against the spread.
With a chance to even the series on Monday night at home, Minnesota fell apart in the third quarter of a very tight game. It was outscored 50-20 before trying to mount a fourth-quarter comeback. Karl-Anthony Towns scored a team-high 22 points to go with his 15 rebounds, but the Timberwolves struggled a bit from three-point range with eight buckets on 22 attempts. They have shot 44.9 percent from the field and 40 percent from three-point range in this series.
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The Rockets are one step closer to closing this series out with a 3-1 edge following Monday’s 119-100 victory as six-point favorites on the road. Game 3 also closed at that same six-point spread, but they lost that one SU 121-105. Even though Houston has covered ATS in two of the last three games in this series, it is still a costly 3-8 ATS over its last 11 games. The total went OVER in the two games played in Minnesota after staying UNDER the closing line in nine of the Rockets’ previous ten outings.
James Harden should be in serious consideration for this season’s MVP award, but he would not have earned much support if the first three games of the playoffs were factored into the vote. After shooting the ball poorly in each those matchups, he regained his touch in Game 4 by going 12-for-26 from the field and 5-for-11 from three-point range as part of his game-high 36 points. Chris Paul added 25 points and six assists to help pace the win. Houston was the second-highest scoring team in the NBA this season with 112.4 points per game and Game 4 was the first time they eclipsed this number against Minnesota.
Get more details: Minnesota at Houston NBA Match-Up
Minnesota at Houston Betting Trends
- The Timberwolves have gone 3-8 ATS in their last 11 games against the Southwest Division, but they have covered in four of their previous six games coming off an ATS win. The total has stayed UNDER in five of their last seven games against this division.
- The Rockets are 2-5 ATS in their last seven games against the Northwest Division and 2-5 ATS in their previous seven games against a team with a straight up winning record. The total has stayed UNDER in four of their last six games against this division.
- Head-to-head in this conference clash, the favorite has covered in six of the last eight meetings, and the total has gone OVER in 16 of the previous 21 games between the two.
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