Timberwolves vs. Trail Blazers Pick
Are the Minnesota Timberwolves going to secure a victory as underdogs tonight at the Portland Trail Blazers? Tip-off is at 10PM ET.
Who Oddsmakers Like: Portland. According to oddsmakers at Bovada.lv, the Trail Blazers are listed as a 3.5-point favorite on the spread line. The total is set at 211 points. The spread has remained the same from where it opened, but the total has dropped after opening at 215.
Who the Public Likes: Minnesota. As of Wednesday afternoon, 56 percent of public bets have come in on the visiting Timberwolves.
Injury Report: Minnesota guard Jamal Crawford has missed the last two games with an injured toe and is questionable tonight. Jimmy Butler missed the last two games with a sore knee and is expected to be out again tonight. Justin Patton is recovering from offseason toe surgery and is out indefinitely. For the Trail Blazers, CJ Wilcox is rehabbing from knee surgery and it is unknown when he will be back.
Who the Trends Like: Minnesota is 2-8-1 ATS in its last 11 meetings in Portland and 15-36-1 ATS in the last 52 meetings overall. The under is 7-0-1 in the last eight meetings in Portland.
Who We Like: The Timberwolves have managed to play good basketball with Butler out of the lineup, winning the last two games including a 126-118 victory at the Clippers their last time out. Andrew Wiggins provided a huge lift in that contest with a 40-point outburst. Portland had its three-game winning streak snapped with a 104-101 loss at the Nuggets last game. I trust Minnesota to get the job done here. Even though Butler is out, it opens up a higher usage rate for Karl-Anthony Towns who has been under-utilized all season. Wiggins and Jeff Teague are also fully capable of picking up the scoring slack. Minnesota has had a dreadful history in games versus Portland, but I like the T-Wolves in this spot.
NBA DAILY PREDICTION: MINNESOTA TIMBERWOLVES +3.5