Minnesota Timberwolves vs Los Angeles Lakers Prediction, 3/16/2021 NBA Pick, Tips and Odds

Game: Minnesota Timberwolves vs Los Angeles Lakers

Date: Tuesday, March 16, 2021

Location: STAPLES Center in Los Angeles, CA

TV: Spectrum Sportsnet

Odds/Point Spread: Minnesota (+9)

STAPLES Center is the venue where and the Los Angeles Lakers (25-13) will play the Minnesota Timberwolves (9-30) on Tuesday. Minnesota opens this contest as 9-point underdogs. The total has been set at 224.

The Minnesota Timberwolves faced the Portland Blazers and walked away with a win by a score of 114-112 in their last game. Minnesota finished having earned a 49.3% FG percentage (36 of 73) and buried 13 out of their 38 three-point shots. At the free throw line, the Timberwolves knocked down 29 of 39 tries for a rate of 74.4%. When discussing rebounding, they earned a total of 45 with 5 of them being of the offensive sort. They also dished out 24 assists in this contest in addition to forcing the opposition into 11 turnovers and earning 6 steals. In the matter of defense, Minnesota allowed the other team to shoot 43.8% from the floor on 39 out of 89 shooting. Portland doled out 22 dimes and had 6 steals in the game. Furthermore, Portland totaled 42 rebounds (9 offensive, 33 defensive) and added 4 rejections. Portland ended up going 81.0% at the charity stripe by making 17 of their 21 shots. They also converted 17 out of their 45 tries from three-point range.

Anthony Edwards is a player who had an impact for the matchup. He ended up scoring 34 points on 12 of 24 shooting. He was on the court for 36:36 mins and also totaled 4 boards. Edwards walked away from this one shooting 50.0% from the floor and earned 2 assists. Another guy that was a major contributor in this game for the Timberwolves was Ricky Rubio. He totaled 5 rebounds in his 29:30 min on the basketball court. He finished shooting 30.0% from the floor in this matchup by going 3-of-10 (15 points). Overall, Rubio had accumulated 7 assists.

Minnesota will play this contest with a record of 9-30 for the campaign. They are averaging 109.1 pts per game (23rd in the league) while hitting 44.1% from the field. The Timberwolves are connecting on 35.1% on three-point shots (495 of 1,412) and 76.4% from the charity stripe. As a unit, Minnesota is grabbing 43.5 boards per contest and has accounted for 981 dimes this season, which ranks 10th in the NBA in terms of passing the ball. They are giving up possession 14.6 times per game and as a squad they commit 21.8 fouls every game. On the defensive end, the Timberwolves are forcing their opponents into 15.0 turnovers per contest while drawing 18.7 fouls. They give up 37.2% on 3-point shots while they are 28th in the NBA in points per game from their opponents (116.8). The Timberwolves defense is allowing an opponent shooting percentage of 47.6% (586 of 729) and they relinquish 47.1 boards per game as a team. They are ranked 25th in basketball in allowing assists with 1,005 relinquished on the season.

The last time they took the hardwood, the Los Angeles Lakers walked away with a victory by a final of 105-100 when they played the Indiana Pacers. The Lakers corralled 38 defensive rebounds and 6 offensive rebounds for a total of 44 for this game. They gave up possession of the ball 15 times, while recording 10 steals for this game. The Pacers committed 27 personal fouls in this game which took the Lakers to the free throw line for a total of 39 attempts. They were able to bury 30 of them for a rate of 76.9%. In terms of three-point attempts, Los Angeles knocked down 7 out of their 22 attempts (31.8%). When the final whistle blew, the Lakers walked away from this one shooting 34 for 76 from the field which gave them a percentage of 44.7%. The Lakers allowed the Pacers to convert 37 out of 88 attempts from the field which gave them a shooting percentage of 42.0% for this game. They went 22.2% from beyond the arc by hitting 8 out of 36 and finished the contest at 18 of 21 at the charity stripe (85.7%). Concerning cleaning up the glass, Los Angeles allowed Indiana to grab 44 in total (10 on the offensive side).

LeBron James was important for the Lakers for this game. He made 5 out of 13 for this game for a field goal percentage of 38.5%, and had 3 rebounds. James accumulated 18 points in his 34:21 minutes on the hardwood and accumulated 10 dimes for the game. Someone else who came through for Los Angeles was Dennis Schröder. He ended up walking away with 4 dimes in 34:28 mins on the hardwood, and he shot 3 of 11 from the floor. Schröder walked away from this one going 27.3% from the floor in addition to contributing 11 points and 5 rebounds.

Los Angeles has a mark of 25-13 so far this season. Los Angeles has totaled 4,226 pts so far this season (111.2 per game) and they pull in 45.3 rebounds per game. The Lakers are responsible for committing 19.0 fouls per game and they go 74.6% from the charity stripe. As an offense, the Lakers are hitting on 48.0% from the field, which is ranked 9th in basketball. They are earning an assist 24.4 times per contest (17th in basketball) and they cough up possession 15.1 times per contest. The Lakers on defense are ranked 2nd in the NBA in points allowed per contest with 106.2. They have surrendered 24.9 dimes and 41.7 rebounds per contest, which has them ranked 19th and 3rd in the league. The Los Angeles defense concedes 35.4% on 3-point attempts (440 of 1,244) and their opponents are knocking down 76.6% of their free throw attempts. They have forced 14.7 TO's per game and allow teams to shoot 45.2% from the floor (6th in the NBA).

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

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take Minnesota (+9)

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