The NBA’s postseason fiesta resumes Tuesday night with a Western Conference battle between LA Clippers and Minnesota Timberwolves, with coverage from Target Center in Minneapolis at 9:30 p.m. ET on TNT.
Los Angeles Clippers (41-41ATS) and (38-41-3 O/U) started strong despite the absence of the prime superstar Kawhi Leonard with an awesome 16-15 SU run and ten of their victories came by 10+ points. Right after this, the Clippers became maybe the most inconsistent team in the league during co-superstar Paul George’s extensive absence in order to finish in the 8th spot at the West.
Minnesota Timberwolves (42-38-2 ATS and 50-32 O/U) after a terrible 2020/2021 season, had another frustrating start of the present season, but since mid-December they were flying high with powerful offensive weapons generating 119.6 OPPG to finish in the 7th seed in the West.
A huge surprise is how the Clippers handled the devastating injury of one of the best NBA players at that moment, Kawhi Leonard. Last season, the Clippers did just fine and fell short in the Western Conference against Phoenix in a six-game WC Finals battle. On the other hand, the Timberwolves finished the season in a poor form going 2-7 ATS in the last 9 games. On the surface, this gives the Clippers some advantage.
Los Angeles Clippers vs Minnesota Timberwolves Game Info
Matchup: Pacific vs Northwest – No.8 Clippers vs No.7 Timberwolves
Tipoff time: Tuesday, April 12, 2022, 9:30 p.m. ET
TV: TNT
Location: Target Center, Minneapolis, MN
Los Angeles Clippers vs Minnesota Timberwolves Odds Analysis
The Clippers are a short 3-point underdog in this game, and this is the first time they are the underdog against Minnesota this season.
The total for this game is set to a high 230.5 points as the two teams demonstrated some decent offensive power during the regular season.
Los Angeles Clippers vs Minnesota Timberwolves Predictions
Finally we arrived to the section in which after a short brief and the basic info for the game we are ready to present our betting picks on the Clippers vs Timberwolves game. For more info and picks on the NBA 2022 play-in games, check out our dedicated NBA Playoff odds tracker.
Los Angeles Clippers to cover the spread (+3) @ -110 (Odds via BetMGM)
Despite playing the majority of the season without Paul George and the whole season without the main star Kawhi Leonard, the Clippers finished the season with 40-plus wins and are poised for another deep playoff run. Still, they are ranked as only the 25th offense in the league but because they retained many of their core players from last season, the Clippers are much closer to a win in this game. Of course it is a very hard game to win, but Minnesota didn’t fare well against opponents with records better than .500 . Not to mention the lack of any playoff consistency for the Wolves for over a decade.
Clippers are 5-1 SU and 4-2 ATS since the return of George and this comes just in time for the play-in game. On the other hand, as mentioned before, the Timberwolves are 4-5 SU and 2-7 ATS in the final nine games of the regular season.
We predict a close game with thrilling final seconds in which the Clippers will win and move on or will lose a close game. In any way, we see the +3.0 being the winning bet here.
Over 230.5 Total Points (Odds via Caesars)
There is no doubt that both teams are powerful in the offense. The total has gone over in four of the last six matchups between this two teams. Based on the stats of the teams, this will be a game with a lot of 3 pointers and offensive rebounds by Minnesota using the second chance plays to score.