Timberwolves vs. Kings: Towns Gives Edge to Minnesota

Timberwolves vs. Kings Odds

Timberwolves Odds	+4
Kings Odds	-4
Over/Under	239
Time	10 p.m. ET
TV	NBA League Pass
Odds via FanDuel. Get up-to-the-minute NBA odds here.

The Minnesota Timberwolves are inching closer to the NBA Playoffs. With three straight wins, they’re just a half-game behind the Golden State Warriors for the sixth spot, but the job is far from done.

Minnesota is being chased by three teams that are within at least a game and a half, meaning it’s just as possible the Timberwolves fall out of the top half of the play-in tournament, or out of the tournament altogether.

Let’s dive into an important game for the playoff hopefuls in our Timberwolves vs. Kings preview and prediction.

As noted above, the Timberwolves have done well to get themselves into this position.

They had to run through the Knicks, Hawks and Warriors – all teams that should make the playoffs – and did so with relative ease despite being larger than five-point underdogs in two of the three contests.

The No. 3 team in the Western Conference represents yet another challenge, but it’s not one from which Minnesota will shy away. It took out Sacramento as a four-point underdog earlier this month and split a pair against the Kings at the end of January. The Timberwolves lead the season series 2-1 despite entering the underdogs in each contest.

The biggest reason the Timberwolves have come on strong of late is surely the return of Karl-Anthony Towns. The big man was out nearly four months with a calf strain and has played in the last two for Minnesota, only to lead the team to victory both nights. His three with under 10 seconds left on Sunday night proved to be the difference in a huge road win at Golden State.

Towns is now a +20 on the floor for Minnesota in his 58 minutes.

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The Kings aren’t starved for wins, but they’ve played well of late nonetheless. They are coming off back-to-back wins over the Suns and Jazz, narrowly missing a cover last time out that would have improved them to 8-3 against the spread in the last 11.

The Kings remain one of the worst defensive teams in the NBA, allowing 119.1 points per 100 possessions over the last 10 games to rank 24th in the league during that time.

They’ve particularly struggled to defend inside, allowing 65.2% shooting inside of six feet to rank ninth-worst over the last 10, which is right in line with how they’ve played all season. Despite the fact that they’re ranked eighth-worst against the three, they’ve actually been drastically better over this stretch, allowing just 35.7% of guarded looks to fall.

A potential wrench in this game is the status of De’Aaron Fox. The starting guard is currently listed as questionable with right hamstring soreness after being held out of Saturday’s win over Utah.

Davion Mitchell struggled in Fox’s place, scoring just 11 points and missing all six of his three-point attempts.

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Timberwolves-Kings Pick

The last time these two teams came together, the Kings edged the Timberwolves on the glass and outscored them in the paint by 10. Even with that, it still wasn’t enough to overcome their incredibly poor defense in a 138-134 loss.

Minnesota shot 51.3% from three in that game, and while it surely won’t be replicated, the team is going to be a much bigger threat from deep with Towns in the lineup. Towns is currently 6-from-12 on three-balls and also provides a huge lift inside, where the Kings have struggled to defend all year.

I think it makes sense to take the points with the Timberwolves yet again here. They’re 23-17 against the spread as underdogs this season and have owned the Kings in the head-to-head thus far. Their offense is that much better now that Towns is back, and Towns should provide them a significant edge in a must-win game.

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