LA Lakers at Minnesota Timberwolves Free Pick ATS

Los Angeles Lakers (15-13 SU, 11-17 ATS) vs. Minnesota Timberwolves (20-6 SU, 14-11 ATS)

When: Thursday, December 21st, 9:00 PM (ET)

Where: Target Center, MN, Minneapolis

TV: BSN

Point Spread: LAL +5/Min -5

Total: 224.5

Money Line: Los Angeles Lakers +170/-207

Notable Injuries

Lakers

• Jalen Hood-Schifino (Out) Back

Timberwolves

• Jaylen Clark (Out) Achilles

Recent Form

Coming into today’s game against the Timberwolves, the Lakers are looking to stay above .500. So far, the Lakers are 15-13 overall, including a 12-8 record against Western Conference teams and a 3-5 record against non-conference opponents.

Coming into today’s game against the Lakers, the Timberwolves are looking to stay above .500. They are currently 20-6 overall, with a 13-3 record against Western Conference teams and a 7-3 record in non-conference games.

The Historicals

The ATS record across the previous five head-to-head meetings is 4-1 in favor of the Timberwolves. In these matchups, Minnesota has averaged 111 points per game while allowing 107. In these contests, they averaged a combined 218 points per game, leading to an over-under mark of 1-4.

Analysis

The Lakers offense is coming off a game where they scored 108 points against the Bulls. They posted a field goal percentage of 44.7% and connected on 12 threes. In terms of offense, the Lakers have a season-long field goal percentage of 48%, putting them 7th in the NBA. Regarding three-pointers, they are ranked 25th in percentage and 28th in three-pointers made.

Coming into the game, the Lakers’ defense has held opposing teams to fewer points than the league average in 46.4% of their games. Currently, they are 16 in the NBA at 113.9 points per game allowed.

When it comes to forced turnovers, the Lakers are forcing 13.7 per game, which is 20th in the league. They also come into the game sitting 12th in blocked shots at 5.6 per game.

Coming off their recent game, the Timberwolves offense tallied 113 points in a matchup against the 76ers. Their field goal percentage for the game was 51.2%, and they made nine threes. The top scorer for the Timberwolves was Anthony Edwards with 27 points, while Karl-Anthony Towns also added 23 to the scoreboard.

In the current season, the Timberwolves defense has excelled, sitting 1 in the NBA by allowing 106.7 points per game.

On two-point field goal attempts, the Timberwolves’ defensive unit is allowing a field goal percentage of 50.1% and allowing 33.8% from beyond the arc.

Betting Trends

• In their last three games away from home, the Lakers have a straight-up record of 1-2 while going 0-3 vs the spread. The team’s offense averaged 115 points per game in these contests.
• When looking at their past five home matchups, Minnesota has an ATS record of 3-2 while averaging 115 per game. The team went 3-2 overall in these games.
• Going back to their previous three games as the underdog, Los Angeles has an ATS mark of 1-2 while going 1-2 straight up.
• In their last five games as the betting favorite, the Timberwolves have a strong straight up record of 5-0. In addition, their ATS record was 4-1 in these scenarios.

Joes Pick To Cover The Spread

Both the Timberwolves and Lakers will be playing this one, having played last night, and each side took the loss. This year, the Wolves have lost just one game at home, and LA is only 5-10 on the road. With the spread sitting at -5, I like Minnesota to pick up the win and cover the spread.