Fatigue a Factor in Lakers-T-Wolves
Fatigue could be a factor in Thursday night’s Lakers and Timberwolves matchup at 9:00 p.m. ET. Here’s why.
Before we dive into this Los Angeles-Minnesota matchup, a quick shout out to the Detroit Pistons. I highlighted why fatigue could be an issue for the Atlanta Hawks ahead of Wednesday’s tilt in Motown and the Pistons looked great…until the fourth quarter. Covering the entire game, Detroit laid an egg in the final quarter as Atlanta out-scored the Pistons 37-22 to cover as a 10-point road dog. Thanks, Pistons.
Bet Tonight’s Lakers vs. Timberwolves Matchup
Now that the bitter part of this piece is in the rearview mirror, let’s talk Lakers-Timberwolves tonight. According to oddsmakers from online sportsbook YouWager, Minnesota is currently a 10-point home favorite to beat L.A. tonight. As of this writing, 63% of the betting tickets wagered at online sportsbooks are on the T-Wolves to cover but 63% of the money is on the Lakers. That does give me slight pause when it comes to laying the points but there’s good reason to back Minnesota before All-Star Weekend.
For starters, the Lakers played last night. They scored 117 points in New Orleans but the problem was that they allowed 139 as the Pelicans covered easily as 5.5-point home favorites. Luke Walton’s team got off to a rough start, allowing 46 points in the first quarter. That set the tone the rest of the way as the Lakers weren’t competitive throughout.
How has L.A. fared playing the second night of a back-to-back? Not well, as in 0-5 against the spread in their last five games playing on zero rest. Now, the Lakers are 13-6 at the betting window in their last 19 trips to Minnesota. That said, the home team in this matchup is 6-1 against the number in the last seven meetings between these two teams and the T-Wolves are on an impressive 10-2 ATS run at home.
There hasn’t been any line movement either way on this game yet but I’m nabbing the Timberwolves at -10 before the spread moves off the key number.