The Western Conference first-round playoff series between No. 2 Memphis and No. 7 Minnesota is tied 1-1 as it heads to the Twin Cities on Thursday. The Grizzlies are short favorites on the NBA odds.
How to Bet Grizzlies at Timberwolves NBA Odds & TV Info
- When: Thursday, 7:30 PM ET
- Where: Target Center
- TV: TNT
- Stream: TNT app
- Radio: Tunein.com
- NBA Odds: Grizzlies -1.5 (total 238)
Why Bet on Memphis?
After being upset in Game 1, the Grizzlies rolled to a 124-96 win in Game 2, setting a playoff franchise record for largest margin of victory.
Ja Morant played 30 minutes and had 23 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds. Morant was on the wrong end of a Karl-Anthony Towns screen during the third quarter that perhaps was illegal but no call was made. The All-Star point guard would be taken back to the locker room to undergo further evaluation, but he was able to return to action. Morant fell one rebound shy of what would have been the first triple-double of his postseason career.
The Grizzlies opened the second half with a 21-7 run as Morant scored 12 in the third quarter to put the game out of reach. Memphis outscored Minnesota 64-47 in the second half and limited the Timberwolves to 39% shooting and only six assists.
Jaren Jackson Jr. shot 5-of-12 from the field to finish 16 points and seven rebounds. After missing all five of his 3-point attempts in Memphis’ Game 1 loss, Jackson bounced game in Game 2 as he was 4-for-7 from deep. Steven Adams finished with one assist in three minutes. It was a rough night for Adams, who through the first two games of the series has looked severely overmatched. He was whistled for two quick fouls Tuesday and he didn’t play again.
Coach Taylor Jenkins has been turning to Xavier Tillman more. He accounted for 13 points on 6-for-7 shooting and seven rebounds in 21 minutes of Game 2. It was clear Jenkins had a tighter grip on his rotation when Kyle Anderson started the second half instead of Adams. Jenkins went with Anderson over Tillman to keep his backup big-man rotation in order. Jenkins then informed Adams of his decision.
“I talked to Steven, I let him know the gut-decision I made,” Jenkins said. “Obviously he got the early foul trouble, the bench was rolling, the lineups we had out there were rolling and he completely understood.”
The Grizzlies outscored the Timberwolves 60-34 in paint points while grabbing 14 offensive rebounds, leading to 19 second chance points. The Grizzlies also forced 20 turnovers, which turned into 28 points on the other end.
Why Bet on Minnesota?
One could almost see a bad game coming for Minnesota after beating the Clippers in the play-in tournament and then winning the opener of this series.
“Just again a young team going through it,” Wolves coach Chris Finch said after the Game 2 blowout loss. “They just experienced their first playoff win. You’ve got to learn how to handle these things like you’ve got to learn to handle anything else.”
Anthony Edwards hit 7-of-16 shots for pointers for 20 points, six rebounds, one assist, a steal and five turnovers in Tuesday’s loss. Edwards played fairly well but had scored 36 in his previous two games. Edwards joins Stephon Marbury (April 24-26, 1997 at Houston) as the only Timberwolves players to score 20+ points in each of his first two career playoff games. After two games, Edwards has totaled 56 points, good for the most points in two consecutive playoff games by a Timberwolves player since Latrell Sprewell had 61 points in two straight from May 14-16, 2005 against Sacramento.
Karl-Anthony Towns had 15 points and 11 rebounds for his Towns recorded his fifth straight double-double and 42nd of the season. Towns is averaging 23.8 points and 11.6 rebounds on 53.0 percent shooting from the field during that span. D’Angelo Russell struggled with 11 points on 3-of-11 shooting.
Taurean Prince played through a right knee injury on Tuesday after sitting out Game 1 and hit 4-of-7 shots and two 3-pointers for 12 points, two rebounds, two steals and a block in 17 minutes.
Patrick Beverley was a minus-26 in 29 minutes, and Malik Beasley was a minus-24 in 22 minutes. Jaden McDaniels was 1 of 7 with three air balls on 3-point tries. And the Timberwolves had just 16 assists, shot 39.5 percent from the field and were beaten, 14-4, on the offensive glass, giving the Grizzlies a 19-8 advantage in second-chance points.
“I’m not worried. I hope my teammates aren’t worried,” Edwards said after the loss. “We’re going back to Minnesota. They got to come to our house and play us twice at the crib. And our crowd, I’ll put our crowd up there with the best of them. It’s their problem to deal with.”
Game Trends
- Grizzlies are 5-2-1 ATS in their last 8 games following a straight up win.
- Grizzlies are 25-10 ATS in their last 35 games as a favorite.
- Grizzlies are 2-6-1 ATS in their last 9 road games.
- Timberwolves are 14-6-1 ATS in their last 21 games following a straight up loss.
- Timberwolves are 4-9 ATS in their last 13 games as an underdog.
- Grizzlies are 5-2 ATS in the last 7 meetings in Minnesota.
Expert Prediction
- Grizzlies 119, Timberwolves 116