The Portland Trail Blazers (13-12, 5-6 Home) welcome the Minnesota Timberwolves (13-12, 6-5 Away) Saturday at Moda Center at the Rose Quarter. Minnesota is playing the second of a back-to-back after topping the Utah Jazz 118-108 at Vivint Arena yesterday. D’Angelo Russell was the standout player with 30 points. The Timberwolves are 11th in the Western Conference.
Portland dropped a close one on Thursday at Moda Center at the Rose Quarter, falling to the Denver Nuggets 121-120. Damian Lillard had 40 points and 12 assists in the loss to lead the team. The Trail Blazers are the eighth seed in the Western Conference.
This marks the first meeting of the season between the teams. Minnesota swept all four games between the teams last season, the last of which was a 124-81 triumph at Target Center on March 7, their fifth straight head-to-head victory. Karl-Anthony Towns led the Timberwolves with 27 points and 13 rebounds.
Brandon Williams had 27 points and eight rebounds in defeat. The T’Wolves have been led this season by Anthony Edwards and Towns, who are averaging 22.8 and 20.8 points per game, respectively. Both are among the league’s top scorers, as Edwards is No. 1 and Towns is first.
Meanwhile, Rudy Gobert is grabbing 11.9 rebounds per game, most in the NBA, and Russell is dishing 6.4 assists (1st).Anfernee Simons (23.9 ppg) and Jerami Grant (22.8) have powered the Blazers’ offense. Simons leads the league in scoring, while Grant is first. Simons also has tallied 4.6 assists per game, most in the league.
Jusuf Nurkic has pulled down 10.0 rebounds per game. The Timberwolves are only 2-8 in their last 10 trips to Moda Center at the Rose Quarter.
Meanwhile, the Timberwolves are 1-2 when playing the second of a back-to-back this season and 1-1 in such games against rested opponents. The Trail Blazers are 2-1 with a rest advantage.
Minnesota is 6-4 in the last 10 games with an average margin of -0.2 (115.7-115.9). Portland has gone 3-7 over the last 10, allowing 116.9 points per game on average while scoring only 112.2 (-4.7 margin).
TIMBERWOLVES HOT/COLD
(Last Five | Season Average | Differential)
Points + Rebounds + Assists:
Jaylen Nowell: 25.4 | 16.6 | +8.8
Karl-Anthony Towns: 14.0 | 34.2 | -20.2
Points per game:
D’Angelo Russell: 23.4 | 16.1 | +7.3
Karl-Anthony Towns: 8.0 | 20.8 | -12.8
Rebounds per game:
Karl-Anthony Towns: 2.0 | 8.2 | -6.2
TRAIL BLAZERS HOT/COLD
(Last Five | Season Average | Differential)
Rebounds per game:
Justise Winslow: 7.2 | 5.5 | +1.7
SportsTips’ NBA Pick:
Minnesota Timberwolves (+170)
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*Odds correct at time of publication, courtesy of BetMGM.
