NBA - 523 Minnesota Timberwolves @ 524 Portland Trailblazers
Projected Line: 190 points
Projected Line: 190 points
***DOUBLE DIME PLAY***
Portland is coming from a blowout loss in Phoenix, in a game where J.J. Hickson didn't play and Nicolas Batum struggled with an illness. They were completely flat on the whole game, they had 22 turnovers and Phoenix had no problems in easily beat them. The Blazers' interior defense was terrible and Phoenix easily pounded them with 22-25 FG at the rim and 5-7 FG from 3-9 feet! Marin Gortat shot 11-14 FG for 22 points, while Markieff Morris shot 9-13 FG and had 19 points. Portland just couldn't stop the Phoenix's frontcourt, who shot 12-17 FG on post ups! Portland looked good on pick and roll ball handler, but they were too much of a jump shooting team with just 10-17 FG at the rim, while they shot 12-30 FG from 16-23 feet and 5-19 3pts!
Minnesota is coming from a home loss against Denver, where they were completely outplay during the second half. Denver's defense was the key, as they defended very well at the rim by allowing just 16-34 FG at the rim! As Minnesota struggles on the outside shooting, they had just 4-16 FG from 16-23 feet and 10-28 3pts, but just 3-14 3pts during the second half! Kevin Love started well, but he ran out of gas and they eventually got outplayed by Denver in the second half, after George Karl made some adjustments during halftime. With Kevin Love back, Nikola Pekovic and Andrei Kirilenko weren't as active as usual and that caused the Wolves to lose their identity on the offense. They were being one of the best teams in the league on cuts, but they had just 0-2 FG on this kind of plays against Denver!
As usual Portland got exposed by a good PG + Center combo, especially with J.J. Hickson out. Things will be different today. Luke Ridnour is far from being as dangerous as Goran Dragic, so one of Portland's main problems on defense won't be exposed tonight. Then, the Wolves aren't a good team in scoring at the rim with just 59% FG. With Kevin Love back, they lost some identity on offense as well, while they are asking already a lot from Love and he is still far from being at 100% right now. On the other hand, Portland has been a top team on pick and rolls with Damian Lillard, while also being very effective on transitions. However, Minnesota is #8 and #1 in defending pick and rolls and transition plays, so I believe they will limit Portland's offense a lot today.
I believe Minnesota will struggle on offense over the next few games, as they will have to adjust in having Kevin Love back in the court, while he isn't at 100% physically to carry the team's offense on his own. With Portland coming from a horrible defensive performance in Phoenix, on a tough matchup for them, I believe they will bounce back today against an easier matchup for them. Minnesota also has the tools to stop the Blazers' offense tonight, therefore I expect a relatively low scoring game in here and so, I'll be taking the Under in here on a Double Dime Play!
Pick: 4 units (Double Dime Play) on 523/524 Under 197,5 @ -110 / 1.91 on Bookmaker
Portland is coming from a blowout loss in Phoenix, in a game where J.J. Hickson didn't play and Nicolas Batum struggled with an illness. They were completely flat on the whole game, they had 22 turnovers and Phoenix had no problems in easily beat them. The Blazers' interior defense was terrible and Phoenix easily pounded them with 22-25 FG at the rim and 5-7 FG from 3-9 feet! Marin Gortat shot 11-14 FG for 22 points, while Markieff Morris shot 9-13 FG and had 19 points. Portland just couldn't stop the Phoenix's frontcourt, who shot 12-17 FG on post ups! Portland looked good on pick and roll ball handler, but they were too much of a jump shooting team with just 10-17 FG at the rim, while they shot 12-30 FG from 16-23 feet and 5-19 3pts!
Minnesota is coming from a home loss against Denver, where they were completely outplay during the second half. Denver's defense was the key, as they defended very well at the rim by allowing just 16-34 FG at the rim! As Minnesota struggles on the outside shooting, they had just 4-16 FG from 16-23 feet and 10-28 3pts, but just 3-14 3pts during the second half! Kevin Love started well, but he ran out of gas and they eventually got outplayed by Denver in the second half, after George Karl made some adjustments during halftime. With Kevin Love back, Nikola Pekovic and Andrei Kirilenko weren't as active as usual and that caused the Wolves to lose their identity on the offense. They were being one of the best teams in the league on cuts, but they had just 0-2 FG on this kind of plays against Denver!
As usual Portland got exposed by a good PG + Center combo, especially with J.J. Hickson out. Things will be different today. Luke Ridnour is far from being as dangerous as Goran Dragic, so one of Portland's main problems on defense won't be exposed tonight. Then, the Wolves aren't a good team in scoring at the rim with just 59% FG. With Kevin Love back, they lost some identity on offense as well, while they are asking already a lot from Love and he is still far from being at 100% right now. On the other hand, Portland has been a top team on pick and rolls with Damian Lillard, while also being very effective on transitions. However, Minnesota is #8 and #1 in defending pick and rolls and transition plays, so I believe they will limit Portland's offense a lot today.
I believe Minnesota will struggle on offense over the next few games, as they will have to adjust in having Kevin Love back in the court, while he isn't at 100% physically to carry the team's offense on his own. With Portland coming from a horrible defensive performance in Phoenix, on a tough matchup for them, I believe they will bounce back today against an easier matchup for them. Minnesota also has the tools to stop the Blazers' offense tonight, therefore I expect a relatively low scoring game in here and so, I'll be taking the Under in here on a Double Dime Play!
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