Minnesota Timberwolves vs. Los Angeles Clippers Preview
Where: Staples Center – Los Angeles, CA
When: Thursday, January 19, 2017 – 10:30 PM ET
Line: Minnesota Timberwolves vs. Los Angeles Clippers – view all NBA lines
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Betting on the Minnesota Timberwolves (14-28)
They are 42 games in and not much has still changed defensively. Head coach Tom Thibodeau and his young Timberwolves are continuing to experience some growing pains. In their recent loss, the Spurs topped them, 122-114, with Kawhi Leonard and LaMarcus Aldridge combining for 63 points on an insane 65-percent shooting.
With that poor D, the Wolves are just 23rd overall in defensive efficiency, which is possibly the worst ranking of any Thibs-coached squad. It’s really a wonder how a team filled with young and athletic guys could only rank 19th in blocks (4.6 BPG) and 18th in steals (7.6 SPG), while also allowing the fifth-highest field goal percentage (47 percent) in the league.
Should the team show improvement, it’ll likely be because they have raised their game as defenders, since they are pretty covered on offense in the years to come. Karl-Anthony Towns (22 PPG), Andrew Wiggins (21.6 ppg), and Zach Lavine (20.1) are the future, and we can expect them to consistently progress as offensive players moving forward.
The Wolves have lost six straight games on the road (2-4 ATS).
Betting on the Los Angeles Clippers (29-14)
Another season, another injury-riddled Clippers. It’s becoming a trend. With Blake Griffin (21.2 PPG, 8.8 RPG, 4.7 APG) set to return in about a week or two from his knee injury, it’s Chris Paul’s turn to miss time. The nine-time all-star just had surgery on his left thumb and is projected to sit out the next 6-8 weeks. He’s bringing 17.5 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 9.7 assists per game with him.
Adding to the unbelievably awful timing of Paul getting hurt is the Clipps’ great momentum. They have risen from their six-game skid to end 2016 by winning their first seven games of 2017, which had them outscoring opponents by 12 points every night.
While guys like JJ Redick (19.6 PPG in his last seven) and Austin Rivers (16.5 PPG in his last 10) are definitely in line to be involved more on offense, it’s veteran Raymond Felton that’ll be the most intriguing to see during the star guard’s absence. The 11-year man from North Carolina has been quite decent in his last nine outings, contributing 12.4 points and 4.4 assists on 50-percent shooting. He should be able to produce more while he’s getting most of the ball-handling duties.
The battle down low will be a huge task for DeAndre Jordan. “DJ” is boasting monster numbers (14.9 PPG, 17.2 RPG, and 2.2 BPG in his last 10) and will be boxed out by a front court that allows the fewest RPG in the league. He’s the lone threat in banging bodies with Towns, Gorgui Dieng, and the rest of the Wolves’ bigs.
The Clippers have won their last six games at home (5-1 ATS).
Writer’s Prediction
The Clippers win, 112-106.
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