Free NBA Picks Today: Minnesota Timberwolves vs Dallas Mavericks 12/19/22

The Minnesota Timberwolves (15-15, 8-7 Home), one of the NBA’s top scoring teams, welcome the Dallas Mavericks (15-15, 3-10 Away) on Monday. Dallas was narrowly defeated by the Cleveland Cavaliers 100-99 in overtime at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse on Saturday.

Kemba Walker was the scoring leader in the losing effort with 32 points. Christian Wood chipped in with 26 points and 14 rebounds. The Mavericks are ninth in the Western Conference. Minnesota is playing the second of a back-to-back after winning in dominant fashion yesterday at Target Center, beating the Chicago Bulls 150-126.

Anthony Edwards had 37 points, 11 assists, and seven rebounds, carrying the team. The Timberwolves are the 10th seed in the Western Conference. The teams are meeting for the first time this season. Dallas and Minnesota split their matchups last season, taking two apiece.

The Timberwolves took the last meeting 116-95 at Target Center on March 25. Karl-Anthony Towns led the Timberwolves with 20 points and nine rebounds. Luka Doncic had 24 points, 10 rebounds, and eight assists in the loss. The Mavs have been led this season by Doncic, who is averaging 33.0 points per game, best in the league.

Doncic also is contributing 8.3 rebounds and 8.7 assists per game, placing him first and first in the league, respectively. Edwards (22.9 ppg) and Towns (20.8) have been the primary providers of the T’Wolves’ offense. Edwards leads the league in scoring, while Towns is first.

Rudy Gobert is pulling down 12.2 rebounds per game, most in the NBA, and D’Angelo Russell is distributing 6.4 assists (1st). The Timberwolves rank as one of the most explosive offenses in the NBA, fifth-best with 115.4 points per game.

The Timberwolves have found success in the last 10 clashes between the teams at Target Center, winning seven. Meanwhile, the Timberwolves are 1-3 this season when playing two days in a row and 1-2 with a rest disadvantage.

The Mavericks are 4-0 with a rest advantage. Dallas is 5-5 in the last 10 games with an average margin of +1.6 (115.2-113.6). Minnesota has also split the last 10 (5-5), allowing 119.3 points per game on average while scoring only 118.3 (-1.0 margin).

MAVERICKS HOT/COLD

(Last Five | Season Average | Differential)

Points + Rebounds + Assists:
Maxi Kleber: 15.0 | 10.7 | +4.3
Assists per game:
Spencer Dinwiddie: 7.3 | 5.3 | +2.0

TIMBERWOLVES HOT/COLD

(Last Five | Season Average | Differential)
Points + Rebounds + Assists:
Naz Reid: 20.6 | 14.2 | +6.4
Points per game:
D’Angelo Russell: 25.0 | 17.0 | +8.0
Assists per game:
Anthony Edwards: 6.2 | 4.3 | +1.9