Minnesota Timberwolves at Portland Trail Blazers
Written by Steve Janus - Google +
The Portland Trail Blazers will look to avoid falling back to .500 when they host the Minnesota Timberwolves tonight. Portland won 96-89 against the Nets on Saturday to move to 21-20 on the season. Minnesota lost 108-99 at home against the Magic on Saturday, and have won just once in their last seven games. Taking a look at the spreads for this game, oddsmakers have the Trail Blazers favored by 8.5-points over the Timberwolves.
The Timberwolves have spent the past two games without Michael Beasley, and it doesn’t appear that he will be able to play tonight. Beasley is second on the team at 20.9 points a game. While the Timberwolves were able to beat Washington without Beasley, its unlikely they pull off the win tonight. Minnesota is just 2-19 away from home this season.
Kevin Love had just 11 points to go along with his 15 rebounds against the Magic, and if the Timberwolves are going to keep these games close, they need more production out of Love on the offensive end.
Corey Brewer picked up some of the scoring slack with 23 points against the Magic, and Luke Ridnour had 19 points and six assists. Minnesota needs both of these two to play well tonight, plus a couple of guys have to step up and have a big game off the bench.
As for the Trail Blazers they are 13-5 at home this season, and you have to imagine they will come ready to play with the way they have been struggling of late. Portland lost their previous three games before beating the Nets, including back-to-back losses at home to Miami and New York.
Portland will also be playing without one of their star players, as Brandon Roy is out indefinitely with knee problems. Portland has done a pretty nice job without Roy, and a big reason for that is the play of LaMarcus Aldridge. In the Trail Blazers win over the Nets, Aldridge had 27 points, nine rebounds, and five assists. In the month of January Aldridge is averaging 26.3 points and 10.1 rebounds.
Nicolas Batum and Wesley Matthews have also picked up their games lately. Batum had a season-high 23 points against the Nets, and is averaging 17 points over his last five games. Matthews had just 10 points against New Jersey, but is averaging 19.2 points over his last five games, including a 36 point effort at Minnesota back on Jan. 7. The Trail Blazers won that game 108-98.
With the way Portland has played at home over the course of the season, I think you have to lay the points and bet the Trail Blazers in this one. If Beasley does end up playing, then the Timberwolves aren’t a bad bet.
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