Minnesota Timberwolves vs Boston Celtics Prediction, 12/23/2022 Preview and Pick

Game: Minnesota Timberwolves vs Boston Celtics

Date: Friday, December 23, 2022

Location: TD Garden in Boston, MA

TV: NBC Sports Boston

The Minnesota Timberwolves are headed to TD Garden on Friday where they will try to defeat the Boston Celtics.

The Timberwolves played the Mavericks and took a loss by a final of 104-99 in their last game. Minnesota walked away from the game with a 49.4% FG percentage (42 of 85) and knocked down 8 out of their 30 shots from 3-point land. From the charity stripe, the Timberwolves made 7 of 10 shots for a percentage of 70.0%. In relation to grabbing boards, they earned a total of 39 with 8 of them being of the offensive variety. They also dished out 23 assists for this game while forcing the other team into 13 turnovers and earning 7 steals. When talking about defense, Minnesota allowed the other team to go 45.3% from the field on 34 of 75 shooting. Dallas doled out 17 assists and had 6 steals for this game. On top of that, Dallas collected 39 rebounds (7 offensive, 32 defensive) and added 4 blocked shots. Dallas went 85.2% at the charity stripe by making 23 of 27 shots. They also converted 13 out of their 39 attempts from long range. When it comes to fouls, the Timberwolves finished with 24 and the Mavericks totaled 12 fouls.

Anthony Edwards is a guy who was a factor in the game. Edwards ended up shooting 52.4% from the floor and totaled 5 dimes. He was on the hardwood for 38 minutes played and snagged 4 rebounds. He recorded 23 points on 11 of 21 shooting.

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Minnesota will enter this contest with a record of 16-16 so far this year. They are averaging 114.9 points per contest (11th in the NBA) while going 49.0% from the field. The Timberwolves are hitting 34.2% on three-point attempts (356 of 1,041) and 77.9% from the charity stripe. As a team, Minnesota is snagging 42.5 rebounds per game and has totaled 829 assists this season, which ranks 8th in the league in terms of passing the ball. They are losing possession via turnover 16.1 times per contest and as a basketball team they are committing 21.9 personal fouls on a nightly basis.

When they are on defense, the Timberwolves are forcing their opponents into 15.8 turnovers per game and they draw 20.6 fouls. They are currently ranked 27th in the NBA in giving up assists to the opposition with 838 relinquished this year. The Timberwolves defense is allowing a shooting percentage of 46.0% (1,314 of 2,856) and they concede 44.1 boards per game as a unit. They are surrendering 37.4% on shots from beyond the arc and they rank 22nd in the NBA in points per game allowed (115.5).

The last time they took the court, the Celtics took a loss by a score of 117-112 when they played the Pacers. The Celtics collected 37 defensive boards and 25 offensive rebounds totaling 62 in the matchup. They coughed up the ball 16 times, while recording 11 steals in the game. The Pacers committed 22 fouls for the contest which got the Celtics to the free throw line for 25 shots. They were able to knock down 21 of the free throw tries for a percentage of 84.0%. When discussing shooting from downtown, Boston buried 13 out of 41 tries (31.7%). When the final whistle blew, the Celtics finished shooting 39 out of 101 from the floor which had them shooting 38.6%. The Celtics permitted the Pacers to convert 46 of 98 tries from the field which left them with a shooting percentage of 46.9% for this game. They finished 46.2% from three-point range by going 18 out of 39 and ended up shooting 7 of 9 at the free throw line (77.8%). In regard to how they attacked the glass, Boston permitted Indiana to pull down 47 in total (12 on the offensive side).

Jayson Tatum ended up being important for the Celtics for the contest. Tatum scored 41 points in his 41 mins on the court and earned 4 assists in the matchup. He made 13 out of 25 for the contest for a field goal percentage of 52.0%, and had 5 rebounds.

Boston has a record of 22-10 this year. The Celtics commit 19.8 personal fouls per contest while shooting 83.0% from the free throw line. They are assisting teammates 26.3 times per contest (10th in the league) and they are turning it over 13.9 times per contest. Boston has accumulated 3,776 pts on the campaign (118.0 per contest) and they average 43.6 rebounds per game. In terms of offensive execution, the Celtics are connecting on 47.7% from the field, which is ranked 10th in the NBA.

The Boston defense gives up 35.2% on shots from distance (361 of 1,025) and their opposition knocks down 78.6% of their free throw shots. They relinquish 21.9 assists and 44.6 total rebounds per game, which ranks them 1st and 24th in the NBA. The Celtics on defense are ranked 13th in the NBA in points per game surrendered with 112.3. They are forcing 13.4 TO's every game and have allowed teams to shoot 46.6% from the floor (11th in the league).

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

Guy Bruhn's Pick: Take Boston

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