Minnesota Timberwolves vs New Orleans Pelicans Prediction, 1/25/2023 Preview and Pick

Game: Minnesota Timberwolves vs New Orleans Pelicans

Date: Wednesday, January 25, 2023

Location: Smoothie King Center in New Orleans, LA

TV: Bally Sports New Orleans

The New Orleans Pelicans host the Minnesota Timberwolves at Smoothie King Center on Wednesday.

The Timberwolves stepped onto the hardwood against the Rockets and ended up losing by a score of 119-114 in their last contest. Minnesota ended the game with a 45.1% field goal percentage (41 out of 91) and knocked down 16 of their 42 shots from beyond the perimeter. At the free throw line, the Timberwolves converted 16 of 22 attempts for a rate of 72.7%. Pertaining to grabbing boards, they collected a total of 41 with 12 of them being offensive. They also dished out 19 assists in this matchup as well as forcing the opposition into 20 turnovers and earning 8 steals. When it comes to defense, Minnesota allowed 50.0% from the field on 44 out of 88 shooting. Houston earned 24 assists and had 11 steals for this contest. Moreover, Houston pulled down 47 rebounds (12 offensive, 35 defensive) and added 7 blocks. Houston ended up going 66.7% when shooting free throws by making 20 of their 30 tries. They also made 11 out of their 30 tries from distance. Concerning fouls, the Timberwolves ended up with 22 and the Rockets totaled 15 fouls.

Anthony Edwards is someone who was a factor in this matchup. He scored 31 points on 9 of 20 shooting. He played for 37 minutes played and totaled 3 boards. Edwards finished the game at 45.0% from the field and dished out 5 assists.

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Minnesota comes into this game with a mark of 24-25 for the year. They cough up possession 15.8 times per contest and as a group are committing 22.1 fouls on a nightly basis. As a unit, Minnesota is pulling in 41.0 boards per game and is sitting with 1,235 dimes for the campaign, which is 9th in the league in terms of passing the ball. The Timberwolves are shooting 35.4% on 3-pointers (569 of 1,608) and 78.0% from the charity stripe. They currently have an average of 115.3 pts per game (11th in the NBA) while going 49.2% from the field.

When they are on defense, the Timberwolves are able to force 16.2 turnovers per contest while drawing 20.2 fouls. They are 28th in the NBA in giving up assists to their opponents with 1,262 surrendered on the season. The Timberwolves defense is giving up a field goal percentage of 46.8% (2,031 of 4,341) and they relinquish 44.4 rebounds per game as a team. They give up 37.4% on 3-point attempts and they are ranked 20th in the NBA in PPG allowed (115.6).

When they last stepped on the court, the Pelicans took a loss by a final score of 100-96 against the Heat. The Pelicans were able to snag 33 defensive boards and 8 offensive boards for a total of 41 for the matchup. They coughed it up 24 times, while getting 17 steals for the game. The Heat earned 14 fouls in this game which got the Pelicans to the free throw line for 18 shots. They were able to knock down 14 of the free throws for a percentage of 77.8%. When talking about shots from beyond the arc, New Orleans converted 8 of 30 tries (26.7%). At the conclusion of this game, the Pelicans ended up shooting 37 out of 78 from the floor which had them shooting 47.4%. The Pelicans allowed the Heat to make 35 out of 80 tries from the field which gave them a shooting percentage of 43.8% in this contest. They went 23.5% from three-point range by going 8 out of 34 and finished the contest at 22 of 27 from the free throw line (81.5%). With respect to rebounds, New Orleans permitted Miami to collect 42 overall (12 on the offensive side).

Trey Murphy III ended up being a factor for the Pelicans for this contest. He converted 6 of 11 for the matchup giving him a field goal percentage of 54.5%, and earned 1 rebound. Murphy III tallied 17 points in his 34 minutes on the hardwood, but wasn't able to notch an assist.

New Orleans has a win-loss record of 26-21 so far this season. The Pelicans are committing 20.5 fouls per contest while shooting 77.7% from the charity stripe. Their rate of earning assists is at 26.1 times per contest (9th in the NBA) and they turn the ball over 15.3 times per game. New Orleans has earned 5,452 points on the campaign (116.0 per contest) and they pull in 44.5 rebounds per contest. When it comes to executing on offense, the Pelicans are hitting on 48.0% from the floor, which is ranked 10th in the league.

The Pelicans defensively are ranked 16th in the league in PPG surrendered with 113.4. They are able to force 15.7 TO's every game and have let teams shoot 47.3% from the floor (16th in the NBA). The New Orleans defense gives up 34.1% on shots from distance (579 of 1,698) and their opponents are connecting on 78.4% of their shots from the charity stripe. They have surrendered 25.2 dimes and 42.0 boards on a nightly basis, which ranks 13th and 6th in the league.

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

Tony Sink's Pick: Take Minnesota

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