The NBA playoffs continue as the Minnesota Timberwolves look to progress to the Conference Finals with a win over the Golden State Warriors in game 5 of their series at the Target Center.
The Timberwolves currently lead the series 3-1 after four games, and are heavy favorites for success once again with the Warriors set to be without star man Steph Curry due to an injury picked up in the last game.
Both teams will be keen for victory for very different reasons, and we’ll take a look at the match-up before providing you with our best free NBA betting picks to try and earn you some extra cash, while you enjoy the action on the court.
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The Timberwolves have had a decent season themselves under head coach Chris Finch, and will now feel as though they have a real chance of making an impact in the latter stages of the playoffs following their 49-33 regular season record.
Minnesota claimed the sixth seed in the Western Conference, which set them up for a big series with LeBron James’ Los Angeles Lakers in the first round of the playoffs.
After a big win on the road in game 1 where Jaden McDaniels top-scred with 25 points, the Lakers levelled the series in game 2 in a low-scoring 85-94 match-up in which their defense came out on top. But following that the Timberwolves took control, winning each of the next three games to claim the series.
A 116-104 win in Game 3 saw Anthony Edwards dominate the game once more, before he scored 43 points in Game 4 to put his side into a commanding lead. They then completed the romp, with Rudy Gobert scoring 27 points and registering a sensational 24 rebounds.
That victory set them up against a free-flowing Warriors team in the conference semi-finals, and they got off to a poor start in a disappointing 88-99 defeat where Buddy Hield top scored with 24 points. Game 2 was a different story though as Julius Randle hit 24 points en route to a 24-point victory, before Anthony Edwards hit 36 points to lead the team to victory in Game 3 and Randle hit 31 points in Game 4 to put the Timberwolves on the brink of the Conference Finals.
The Warriors had a difficult season by their own high standards, but after bringing in Jimmy Butler from the Miami Heat in mid-season, Golden State secured a 48-34 regular season record to earn a place in the Play-In tournament.
There the team won their one-off clash against the Memphis Grizzlies, where Butler hit 38 points to put the team into the playoffs. With the support of Steph Curry and Draymond Green, that victory set up a series against the Houston Rockets in the first-round in what proved to be a highly entertaining battle.
In Game 1, Curry hit 31 points as the Warriors claimed a 95-85 victory on the road, before a Game 2 defeat meant they were heavily beaten, with Curry reduced to just 20 points throughout the game – a high for the team. In Game 3, the 3-point God was back to his best with 36 points as Quinten West got 12 rebounds to help the team re-take the lead in the series.
That win was followed up by a 109-106 win at home to extend the lead to 3-1 and put the team on the brink of victory. However, Houston came from behind and were in vengeful form as they claimed victory in Game 5 with a 131-116 win before another win in Game 6 saw them force a Game 7.
Once again the team’s top players stepped up as Hield scored 33 points, while Curry got a team-high 10 rebounds and seven assists to secure victory.
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After Curry suffered a hamstring injury in Game 1 of the series, Golden State’s chances of victory took a sharp downward turn. As a result, the Timberwolves have been able to assert their dominance on the series and are on the verge of claiming victory in just five games.
It seems unlikely that Curry will be able to return for Game 5 at the time of writing, and that means that there is every chance that Minnesota go all out for the win to limit the chances of him coming back and costing them progression to the next round.
The –11 line is quite big, considering only one of their three defeats so far in this series has seen that number come in, but Minnesota are back on their home court and know that if they win they get some extra rest ahead of a huge series against either the Oklahoma City Thunder or the Denver Nuggets.
Back them to go big to get extra value on your bet, while securing themselves as Conference finalists.
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About the Author
Daniel is a football writer who has a great thirst for the Premier League and other major European leagues. A lover of the beautiful game and a firm believer that the eye test is better than statistics. Also an avid MMA fan.
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