Denver Nuggets vs Minnesota Timberwolves Prediction, 1/3/2021 NBA Pick, Tips and Odds

Game: Denver Nuggets vs Minnesota Timberwolves

Date: Sunday, January 3, 2021

Location: Target Center in Minneapolis, MN

TV: Fox Sports North

Odds/Point Spread: Denver (-8)

The Denver Nuggets (1-4) are headed to Target Center on Sunday where they'll meet the Minnesota Timberwolves (2-3). Minnesota opens this matchup as 8-point dogs. The total has been set at 232.

The Denver Nuggets faced the Phoenix Suns and took a loss by a score of 106-103 in their last contest. Denver walked away from the game having earned a 45.9% FG percentage (39 of 85) and made 12 of 29 shots from distance. At the charity stripe, the Nuggets converted 13 of their 16 attempts for a percentage of 81.3%. When it comes to grabbing boards, they earned 38 with 8 of them being of the offensive sort. They also dished out 28 assists in this contest in addition to having 7 steals and 2 rejections. Pertaining to defense, Denver allowed the other team to go 48.7% from the floor on 37 out of 76 shooting. Phoenix distributed 24 assists and had 2 steals for this contest. Additionally, the Suns totaled 37 boards (8 offensive, 29 defensive) and got 4 blocked shots. Phoenix finished the game shooting 90.5% from the charity stripe by knocking down 19 of 21 tries. They also made 13 of their 35 shots from 3-point range.

Jamal Murray is one player who came through for the matchup. He left the arena with 31 points on 12 of 22 shooting. He saw the court for 40:34 mins played and also snagged 4 rebounds. Murray finished the contest at 54.5% from the field and distributed 5 assists. Another guy that came through in this contest for the Nuggets was Nikola Jokić. He snagged 9 boards and earned 11 assists. He ended up going 53.8% from the field for the matchup by shooting 7-of-13 (17 points). When the final whistle was blown, Jokić was on the court for 29:31 min.

Denver enters this matchup with a mark of 1-4 for the year. The Nuggets are shooting 36.6% on shots beyond the perimeter (56 of 153) and 73.2% from the free throw line. They are averaging 114.4 pts per contest (10th in the NBA) while connecting on 49.3% from the field. They cough up possession 15.2 times per contest and as a unit they commit 21.2 personal fouls every game. As a unit, Denver is grabbing 41.4 rebounds per game and has accounted for 139 dimes this season, which is 10th in the NBA in terms of passing the rock. When they are on defense, the Nuggets are able to force 16.0 turnovers per game and they draw 24.8 personal fouls. The Nuggets defense is allowing a FG percentage of 48.1% (80 of 124) and they relinquish 40.8 boards per game as a squad. They are currently ranked 25th in the league in allowing assists to their opponents with 141 relinquished on the season. They are giving up 42.0% on 3-pointers while they are 25th in the NBA in PPG from their opponents (117.4).

When they last stepped on the court, the Minnesota Timberwolves took a loss by a score of 130-109 against the Washington Wizards. The Timberwolves pulled down 32 defensive boards and 11 offensive boards for a total of 43 for the game. They also stuffed 3 tries while earning 9 steals for the matchup. The Wizards committed 19 fouls in this contest which got the Timberwolves to the charity stripe for a total of 21 shots. They were able to make 12 of the free throw tries for a percentage of 57.1%. When talking about shooting from distance, Minnesota made 13 out of 36 tries (36.1%). When this game wrapped up, the Timberwolves walked away from this one shooting 42 for 88 from the floor which gave them a percentage of 47.7%. The Timberwolves allowed the Wizards to knock down 49 out of their 89 attempts from the field which had them shooting 55.1% in the matchup. They went 48.5% from downtown via 16 out of 33 and ended up shooting 16 of 21 at the charity stripe (76.2%). When talking about how they cleaned up the glass, Minnesota permitted Washington to get 43 in all (8 on the offensive glass).

Malik Beasley ended up being a factor for the Timberwolves for the matchup. He knocked down 8 out of 13 in the matchup for a rate of 61.5%, which had him sitting at 21 points. Beasley pulled down 3 boards in his 26:18 minutes of time on the court and earned 2 dimes for the contest. An additional guy that was important for Minnesota was Naz Reid. He scored 17 points in his 24:18 minutes on the hardwood by going 7 of 10 shooting for the game. Reid walked away from this one going 70.0% from the field while contributing 2 assists and 6 boards.

Minnesota has a record of 2-3 on the campaign. Minnesota has accumulated 528 points so far this year (105.6 per contest) and they average 43.6 boards per contest. The Timberwolves have committed 21.0 fouls per game while shooting 73.5% from the free throw line. As an offense, the Timberwolves are shooting 42.6% from the floor, which is 27th in the league. They are assisting teammates 21.8 times per contest (26th in the league) and they lose possession via turnover 14.8 times per game. The Timberwolves on defense are ranked 26th in the league in points per game surrendered with 118.6. They are forcing 16.4 TO's per game and have let teams shoot 50.0% from the field (30th in the NBA). The Minnesota defense surrenders 37.5% on 3-pointers (63 of 168) and their opponents are knocking down 76.0% of their shots from the free throw line. They have allowed 28.6 dimes and 47.2 total boards per game, which has them ranked 30th and 22nd in the NBA.

So what is Tonights Parlay prediction?

Parlay's Pundit's Pick: Take Minnesota (+8) and over 232 points

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