The Portland Trail Blazers continued their ascent towards the top of the team standings with a resounding 19-point victory over Western Conference rivals Dallas on Thursday night. They will look to extend their winning streak to six games when they square off with the struggling Minnesota Timberwolves this coming Saturday at Target Center.
Read on below for an in-depth breakdown of this matchup and while you’re at it, you can check out our preview of the showdown between the Golden State Warriors and the Dallas Mavericks here.
[sc:NBAArticles ]Portland Trail Blazers vs. Minnesota Timberwolves Betting Preview
Where: Target Center, Minnesota
When: Saturday, March 7, 8:00 PM ET
Line: Portland Trail Blazers at Minnesota Timberwolves – view all NBA lines
Betting on the Portland Trail Blazers
The Portland Trail Blazers stretched their unbeaten run to five games with an emphatic 94-75 win over the Dallas Mavericks on Thursday night. The victory helped Portland establish a half-game lead over the Los Angeles Clippers for third place in the Western Conference standings with the Blazers holding a 41-19 record.
[sc:NBA240banner ]The win came at a costly price for the Blazers, however, with Wesley Matthews declared out for the season with a torn left Achilles tendon. It is a bitter blow for the Blazers who will not only miss Matthews’ outstanding numbers but also his leadership in the Portland backcourt.
Prior to his injury, he was averaging 16.1 points, 3.7 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game for the Blazers this season. He has been a regular fixture in the Blazers lineup, starting in all of Portland’s 60 games. With Matthews now out, new recruit Arron Afflalo will need to pick up his game as he assumes Matthews’ position in the Portland starting lineup.
Afflalo has averaged just 9.2 points and 2.6 rebounds per game in five outings with Portland ever since his arrival to the club in the last trading deadline. Those numbers need to improve dramatically to soften the blow of Matthews’ sudden exit from the Portland lineup.
With that said, the Blazers remain a legitimate contender in the West because of the outstanding play of Damian Lillard and LaMarcus Aldridge. They scored 17 and 14 points, respectively in the game against the Mavs shooting a combined 11-of-26 from the field.
Aldridge and Lillard have been the stalwarts of the Portland offense this season, averaging 23.4 PPG and 21.3 PPG respectively. Expect the dynamic duo to continue their dominance against the Wolves as they have been superb in their two meetings against Minnesota thus far this season.
Aldridge is averaging 18 points and 12 rebounds against Minnesota this season. Lillard, on the other hand, has been excellent as well averaging 20 points and 6.5 assists per game against the Wolves this campaign.
The Blazers are 4-6 ATS in their last 10 games on the road.
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Betting on the Minnesota Timberwolves
Minnesota’s struggles continued on Wednesday night as it suffered its fourth consecutive loss with an embarrassing 100-85 defeat to the Denver Nuggets at Target Center. The Timberwolves were simply outmatched in every aspect of the game against the Nuggets as they slipped further down the team standings with a 13-47 slate, the worst record in the Western Conference.
The Wolves’ frontcourt was totally outclassed by the Denver big men as they were outscored by the Nuggets, 52-28, inside the paint. Kenneth Faried looked like a different player for the Nuggets with new interim head coach Melvin Hunt now calling the shots, scoring 18 points and grabbing 14 rebounds for Denver.
That has been the story all season for the Timberwolves who are worst in the league in points allowed inside the paint, allowing 47.5 PPG in that area. Compounding the Wolves’ misery in their last game against the Nuggets was their inability to get their transition attack going.
The Nuggets ran riot against the Wolves on the open court, outscoring Minnesota, 19-0, in fast break points. For the Wolves to have a chance against the Blazers, they will need to push the pace and create more fast break opportunities against Portland. They are 15th in the league in fast break offense, averaging 15.0 PPG.
Given their struggles inside the shaded area, the onus is on Ricky Rubio to speed things up and take advantage of a Portland defense that is conceding 12.9 fast break points per game this season, 16th in the NBA. Rubio has been one of the lone few bright spots for the Wolves during their current four-game losing rut, averaging 14.0 points and 10.3 assists per game during that stretch.
Minnesota is 5-4-1 ATS in its last 10 home games.
Writer’s Prediction
Portland wins, 103-93.
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