Portland Trail Blazers vs Minnesota Timberwolves Prediction, 4/2/2023 Preview and Pick

Game: Portland Trail Blazers vs Minnesota Timberwolves

Date: Sunday, April 2, 2023

Location: Target Center in Minneapolis, MN

TV: Bally Sports North

Target Center is the location where the Minnesota Timberwolves will try to defeat the Portland Trail Blazers on Sunday.

The Trail Blazers took the court against the Kings and took a loss by a score of 120-80 in their last game. In the matter of fouls, the Trail Blazers ended up finishing with 15 while the Kings finished the game with 11 fouls. They also converted 18 out of their 48 tries from long range. Sacramento shot 75.0% from the charity stripe by knocking down 18 of 24 tries. Moreover, Sacramento snagged 59 rebounds (10 offensive, 49 defensive) and added 6 blocks. Sacramento recorded 30 dimes and had 9 steals for the game. With respect to defending, Portland allowed their opponent to shoot 45.7% from the field on 42 of 92 shooting. They also doled out 18 dimes in this contest while forcing 8 turnovers and getting 5 steals. In reference to hauling in boards, they compiled 45 with 8 of them being offensive. When they shot from the free throw line, the Trail Blazers knocked down 11 of their 12 shots for a rate of 91.7%. Portland ended with a 32.3% field goal percentage (30 out of 93) and made 9 out of their 39 three-point attempts.

Shaedon Sharpe is one guy who was a factor for the matchup. Sharpe walked away from this one shooting 37.0% from the floor and earned 7 assists. He was on the hardwood for 45 minutes played and also grabbed 7 rebounds. He scored 30 points on 10 of 27 shooting.

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Portland will play this contest with a record of 32-44 on the campaign. They are turning it over 14.5 times per contest and as a group are committing 20.2 personal fouls every game. As a unit, Portland is collecting 40.8 rebounds per game and has 1,809 dimes so far this season, which has them ranked 23rd in the league in terms of passing the rock. The Trail Blazers are shooting 36.5% on shots beyond the perimeter (981 of 2,688) and 80.3% from the free throw line. They have an average of 113.4 points per contest (19th in the league) while shooting 47.4% from the field.

On the defensive end of the court, the Trail Blazers are forcing 13.4 turnovers every game and they draw 20.8 fouls. They rank 28th in basketball in giving up assists to the opposition with 2,011 conceded for the year. The Trail Blazers are giving up a shooting percentage of 48.8% (3,234 of 6,627) and they relinquish 42.8 rebounds per game as a squad. They are giving up 37.5% on shots from distance and they are ranked 19th in the league in PPG from their opponents (116.4).

In their last game, the Timberwolves took a loss by a final score of 107-100 when they played the Suns. The Timberwolves recorded 38 defensive rebounds and 16 offensive boards totaling 54 in this game. They also turned the ball over 21 times, while getting 4 steals in the matchup. The Suns earned 16 personal fouls in this game which took the Timberwolves to the charity stripe for a total of 12 tries. They were able to knock down 8 of them for a percentage of 66.7%. In terms of shots from 3-point land, Minnesota knocked down 12 of 35 tries (34.3%). In all, the Timberwolves walked away from this one shooting 40 out of 90 from the floor which had them shooting 44.4%. The Timberwolves permitted the Suns to bury 40 of 96 tries from the field which gave them a percentage of 41.7% for this game. They went 30.0% from beyond the arc by shooting 6 of 20 and ended up shooting 21 of 27 from the free throw line (77.8%). Concerning how they rebounded, Minnesota allowed Phoenix to grab 48 in total (15 on the offensive glass).

Anthony Edwards ended up being a major contributor for the Timberwolves in this matchup. Edwards recorded 31 points in his 40 minutes on the court and had 6 dimes for the contest. He knocked down 13 out of 22 for this contest for a field goal rate of 59.1%, but wasn't able to snag a rebound.

Minnesota has a record of 39-38 so far this year. As an offensive unit, the Timberwolves are shooting 49.1% from the floor, which is 4th in basketball. Minnesota has accounted for 8,907 points on the campaign (115.7 per game) and they pull down 41.8 rebounds per game. Their rate of dishing out assists is at 26.0 times per contest (8th in the NBA) and they cough up possession 15.4 times per contest. The Timberwolves are committing 21.8 fouls every game and they shoot 75.5% from the free throw line.

The Timberwolves on the defensive end are ranked 18th in the NBA in points per game surrendered with 115.9. They are forcing their opponents into 15.6 turnovers on a nightly basis and allow teams to shoot 47.1% from the field (12th in the league). The Minnesota defense allows 37.1% on three-point shots (960 of 2,591) and their opposition makes 76.6% of their free throw shots. They have conceded 24.9 assists and 44.6 boards per contest, which is ranked 13th and 23rd in the league.

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

Guy Bruhn's Pick: Take Minnesota

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