Houston Rockets vs Minnesota Timberwolves Prediction, 3/26/2021 NBA Pick, Tips and Odds

Game: Houston Rockets vs Minnesota Timberwolves

Date: Friday, March 26, 2021

Location: Target Center in Minneapolis, MN

TV: Fox Sports North

Odds/Point Spread: Houston (+3.5)

Target Center is the venue where and the Minnesota Timberwolves (10-34) will play the Houston Rockets (12-31) on Friday. Minnesota opens this matchup as 3.5-point favorites. The total opens at 220.

The Houston Rockets took the court against the Charlotte Hornets and went home with a loss by a final score of 122-97 in their last contest. Houston ended the game with a 38.4% field goal percentage (33 out of 86) and buried 16 of 49 shots from downtown. At the charity stripe, the Rockets converted 15 of 22 tries for a percentage of 68.2%. Regarding hauling in rebounds, they earned 39 with 10 of them being offensive. They also recorded 24 dimes in this matchup while forcing 13 turnovers and having 6 steals. In the matter of defending, Houston allowed the other team to shoot 51.3% from the floor on 41 of 80 shooting. Charlotte doled out 27 dimes and had 4 steals for the matchup. Furthermore, Charlotte grabbed 50 rebounds (10 offensive, 40 defensive) and got 2 blocked shots. Charlotte finished shooting 75.9% when shooting free throws by knocking down 22 of their 29 shots. They also knocked down 18 of their 38 attempts from beyond the arc.

John Wall is a guy who was important for this contest. He recorded 20 points on 6 of 15 shooting. He played for 29:03 mins and grabbed 2 rebounds. Wall finished the contest at 40.0% from the field and totaled 7 assists. Someone else that was a major contributor in the matchup for the Rockets was Christian Wood. He collected 10 rebounds in his 29:16 minutes played on the night. He walked away from this one shooting 28.6% from the field in the matchup by connecting on 4-of-14 (11 points). At the conclusion of this game, Wood finished the game without an assist.

Houston heads into this one with a mark of 12-31 for the campaign. They are averaging 106.9 points per game (25th in basketball) while hitting 43.4% from the floor. The Rockets are connecting on 32.8% on shots from beyond the arc (568 of 1,734) and 74.2% from the free throw line. As a team, Houston is pulling in 42.3 rebounds per game and has racked up 957 dimes on the season, which ranks 28th in basketball in terms of passing the ball. They are turning it over 14.3 times per game and as a basketball team they commit 20.0 personal fouls per game. On the defensive end, the Rockets are able to force 15.5 turnovers every game while drawing 19.9 fouls. The Rockets defense is giving up an opponent shooting percentage of 46.9% (667 of 856) and they relinquish 48.5 boards per game as a team. They are ranked 9th in the league in giving up assists to their opponents with 1,035 surrendered this season. They give up 37.5% on 3-point shots and they are 23rd in the league in PPG allowed (113.6).

When they last played, the Minnesota Timberwolves took a loss by a score of 128-108 when they played the Dallas Mavericks. The Timberwolves were able to pull down 31 defensive boards and 6 offensive boards totaling 37 for the game. They also gave up possession 13 times, while getting 6 steals for this game. The Mavericks had 22 fouls in the matchup which got the Timberwolves to the free throw line for a total of 26 tries. They were able to knock down 20 of them for a rate of 76.9%. With regard to shooting from downtown, Minnesota knocked down 12 out of their 38 attempts (31.6%). At the conclusion of this game, the Timberwolves finished shooting 38 for 85 from the field which gave them a shooting percentage of 44.7%. The Timberwolves permitted the Mavericks to convert 48 of their 99 tries from the field which had them at 48.5% in the game. They shot 36.4% from downtown by connecting on 16 of 44 and finished the contest at 16 out of 22 from the free throw line (72.7%). Concerning rebounds, Minnesota permitted Dallas to get 52 in total (14 offensive).

Anthony Edwards ended up being a major contributor for the Timberwolves in this contest. He converted 9 out of 22 in this game giving him a rate of 40.9%, and added 5 rebounds. Edwards scored 29 points in his 37:15 mins on the court and had 3 dimes in the matchup. An additional guy that was pivotal for Minnesota was Karl-Anthony Towns. He ended up with 6 dimes in 33:36 mins played, and he shot 8 out of 20 from the floor. Towns finished going 40.0% from the field as well as contributing 22 points and 5 rebounds.

Minnesota has a win-loss record of 10-34 so far this season. In terms of offensive execution, the Timberwolves are hitting on 44.3% from the floor, which ranks 28th in the league. Minnesota has tallied 4,811 pts for the campaign (109.3 per contest) and they pull down 42.9 boards per game. They are earning an assist 25.0 times per contest (14th in the league) and they are turning it over 14.5 times per contest. The Timberwolves have committed 21.6 personal fouls per game while shooting 76.0% from the free throw line. The Timberwolves on the defensive side of the court are 28th in the league in points given up per game with 117.3. They have surrendered 26.2 assists and 47.0 total rebounds per game, which ranks them 26th and 25th in basketball. The Minnesota defense surrenders 38.3% from downtown (534 of 1,393) and opponents are connecting on 79.1% of their shots from the free throw line. They are forcing 15.2 TO's every game and have let teams shoot 48.0% from the field (28th in the league).

Who will win tonight's NBA game against the spread?

Guy Bruhn's Pick: Take Minnesota (-3.5)

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