Dallas Mavericks vs Minnesota Timberwolves Prediction, 12/28/2023 Preview and Pick

Game: Dallas Mavericks vs Minnesota Timberwolves

Date: Thursday, December 28, 2023

Location: Target Center in Minneapolis, MN

TV: Bally Sports North

Target Center is the location where the Minnesota Timberwolves (22-7) will compete against the Dallas Mavericks (18-12) on Thursday.

The Mavericks took the court against the Suns and took home the win by a score of 128-114 in their last game. Dallas wrapped up the contest with a 53.6% field goal percentage (45 out of 84) and converted 16 of 44 3-point attempts. From the free throw line, the Mavericks converted 22 of their 30 tries for a rate of 73.3%. Pertaining to pulling down boards, they earned 38 with 8 of them being offensive. They also recorded 28 assists in the matchup in addition to forcing 15 turnovers and earning 7 steals. In regard to the defense, Dallas let their opponent shoot 44.4% from the floor on 40 of 90 shooting. Phoenix recorded 28 assists and had 5 steals for this contest. Moreover, Phoenix totaled 47 rebounds (14 offensive, 33 defensive) and had 6 blocked shots. Phoenix finished the game at 80.0% from the charity stripe by knocking down 20 of their 25 tries. They also converted 14 of 41 shots from beyond the perimeter. In the matter of fouls, the Mavericks left the arena with 20 while the Suns finished the game with 21 fouls.

Luka Doncic is someone who was a factor for this game. He accumulated 50 points on 15 out of 25 shooting. He was on the court for 44 mins played and also grabbed 6 boards. Doncic finished the contest at 60.0% from the field and distributed 15 assists.

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Dallas enters this matchup with a mark of 18-12 for the campaign. They currently have an average of 119.3 pts per contest (7th in the league) while going 47.1% from the floor. The Mavericks are hitting 36.8% from downtown (470 of 1,276) and 75.0% from the charity stripe. As a team, Dallas is collecting 42.4 rebounds per contest and has accounted for 757 dimes for the year, which is 19th in the NBA in terms of passing. They lose possession via turnover 11.9 times per game and as a unit are committing 18.3 fouls per contest.

Defensively, the Mavericks have forced 14.2 turnovers per game while drawing 21.4 fouls. They are 23rd in the league in allowing assists to the opposition with 813 relinquished for the campaign. The Mavericks defense is giving up and opponent field goal percentage of 48.5% (1,325 of 2,733) and they relinquish 46.3 boards per game as a unit. They are conceding 36.6% on shots from beyond the perimeter and they rank 21st in the league in points per game allowed (117.8).

The last time they took the court, the Timberwolves went home defeated by a final of 129-106 against the Thunder. The Timberwolves pulled down 26 defensive rebounds and 8 offensive boards totaling 34 for the matchup. They also gave up possession of the ball 21 times, while recording 8 steals in the matchup. The Thunder committed 24 fouls in this game which took the Timberwolves to the free throw line for 32 attempts. They were able to convert 26 of the free throw tries for a rate of 81.3%. When discussing shooting from downtown, Minnesota made 12 of 27 tries (44.4%). When this game wrapped up, the Timberwolves went 34 for 73 from the field which had them sitting at 46.6%. The Timberwolves permitted the Thunder to make 49 of their 81 tries from the floor which gave them a shooting percentage of 60.5% in this game. They finished 46.2% from 3-point land by going 18 of 39 and finished the game at 13 out of 16 from the free throw line (81.3%). Regarding how they rebounded, Minnesota allowed Oklahoma City to pull down 29 in total (3 offensive).

Anthony Edwards ended up being a major contributor for the Timberwolves for the contest. Edwards earned 25 points in his 34 mins on the court and had 6 dimes for this contest. He knocked down 7 out of 16 for the contest giving him a field goal percentage of 43.8%, and had 7 rebounds.

Minnesota has a mark of 22-7 on the year. On the offensive side of the court, the Timberwolves are connecting on 48.5% from the floor, which ranks 7th in basketball. Minnesota has totaled 3,285 points on the year (113.3 per game) and they pull in 44.6 rebounds per game. Their rate of dishing out assists is at 26.0 times per game (15th in basketball) and they are turning it over 15.3 times per contest. The Timberwolves are committing 19.2 fouls every game and they connect on 79.7% from the charity stripe.

The Minnesota defense gives up 33.7% on 3-pointers (321 of 952) and their opponents are making 80.5% of their foul shots. They have conceded 24.4 assists and 40.8 total rebounds per game, which is 4th and 1st in the league. The Timberwolves on the defensive side of the court are 1st in the league in points allowed per game with 107.3. They are able to force 14.2 turnovers per game and allow teams to shoot 44.6% from the field (3rd in the league).

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

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take Dallas

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