Minnesota Timberwolves vs. Philadelphia 76ers Preview
Where: Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia
When: Tuesday, January 3, 2017, 7:00 PM ET
Line: Minnesota Timberwolves (-4) vs. Philadelphia 76ers (+4); total: 203.5 – view all NBA lines
TV Broadcast: ESPN
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Betting on the Minnesota Timberwolves (-4)
Minnesota head coach Tom Thibodeau is known for defense. Ironically, his Timberwolves squad can’t seem to stop opponents consistently from getting lots of buckets.
Their defensive lapses showed up again on Sunday, when Minnesota let C.J. McCollum explode for 43 points and the Trail Blazers as a team shot 49.3 percent from the floor. It’d be totally unacceptable for the Timberwolves if they came out with another poor defensive performance against the Sixers, who are among the lowest-scoring teams in the league.
That shouldn’t be too tall of a task for Minnesota, considering that they’ve already done that earlier this season, holding the Sixers down to 37.3% shooting in a 110-86 home win back in November 17.
Where the Timberwolves have little problem is on offense. They’re scoring 103.7 PPG and are enjoying the luxury of having plenty of scoring options. Minnesota have Andrew Wiggins, Karl Anthony-Towns, and Zach LaVine to get the ball to. Wiggins leads the team with 22.1 PPG, while Towns and LaVine contribute 21.5 and 20.9, respectively.
Wiggins paid no respect to the Sixers’ defense in the first meeting, scoring 35 points on 14-of-20 shooting. Towns, on the other hand, had 25 points and 10 rebounds.
Minnesota is 3-1 ATS in its last four road games.
Betting on the Philadelphia 76ers (+4)
Like Minnesota, the Sixers also have problems on defense. They are allowing 106.5 PPG, 23rd in the league. They were even worse last Friday, when Philadelphia eked out a high-scoring 124-122 road win over Denver.
While they got the win, it wasn’t on defense obviously. Joel Embiid and Ersan Ilyasova carried the team with 23 points apiece. Dario Saric, meanwhile, came off the bench and fired 13 points in 28 minutes of action. Hopefully for Philly, Embiid and Ilyasova will come through tonight. In the first meeting with Minnesota, Embiid scored just 10 points, while Turkish chucker Ilyasova went 5-of-12 from the field.
Saric may get a bump in minutes again with some Sixers nursing injuries like Sergio Rodriguez and Gerald Henderson. Saric has stepped up on his production of late, averaging 13.0 points and 8.0 rebounds over his last three games.
The Sixers, who are averaging only 99.0 PPG, are 7-3 SU and 4-6 ATS in their last 10 home games against Minnesota.
Writer’s Prediction
Minnesota (-4) wins, 110-107.
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