Minnesota Timberwolves at Los Angeles Clippers
Written by Steve Janus - Google +
The Los Angeles Clippers will go for their sixth win in their last seven games when they host the Minnesota Timberwolves Wednesday night. Tip-off is set for 10:30 ET at the Staples Center.
Michael Beasley returned to the Timberwolves lineup Monday against the Portland Trail Blazers, but couldn’t help Minnesota end their struggles, as they fell 113-102 for their seventh loss in their last eight games.
Los Angeles is playing their best basketball of the season right now. Just one night after beating the Los Angeles Lakers 99-92, the Clippers upended the Indiana Pacers 114-107 on Monday.
Taking a look at the spreads for this game, oddsmakers have the Clippers favored by 4-points over the Timberwolves with the total set at 215.
This will be the third of four meetings between these two teams. Minnesota beat the Clippers 113-111 at home back on Nov. 17, while Los Angeles downed the Timberwolves 113-90 at the Staples Center back on Dec. 20.
Minnesota continues to get big time production out of Kevin Love, but it’s not translating to many wins. Love had 22 points and 17 rebounds in the loss to Portland. It was his 28th straight game with at least 10 points and 10 rebounds.
The Timberwolves are just 5-23 during Love’s streak, and a big reason for that is their inability to win on the road. Minnesota is just 2-20 away from home.
Beasley had 12 points in just 26 minutes in his first game back from injury. and Darko Milicic added 22 points and eight boards. Beasley spend most of the game in foul trouble, and should be more of a factor offensively against the Clippers. Still Minnesota needs someone other than Love and Beasley to be a consistent threat offensively. Milicic broke the 20 point mark for the first time since scoring 22 points against the Spurs back on Nov. 24.
It’s hard to see the Timberwolves snapping out of their struggles on the road against the Clippers, especially with the way Blake Griffin is playing. Griffin had a career-high 47 points to go along with his 14 rebounds in the win over the Pacers. Griffin is right behind Love with 27 straight double-doubles, and has Los Angeles playing their best basketball in years.
Unlike Love, Griffin is getting plenty of help. Eric Gordon had 23 points and seven assists in the win over Indiana, and is averaging 26.4 points over his last five games. Baron Davis is also playing a huge role in the Clippers turning things around. Davis was barely averaging 10 points a game earlier in the season, but has contributed 15.9 points and 8.1 assists a game during the month of January.
I think there is no question you lay the 4 points and take the Clippers in this one. Minnesota has been awful on the road, and Los Angeles is playing as good as anyone right now.
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