The Dallas Mavericks will be traveling from Utah to Minnesota for the second half of a back-to-back to take on the Timberwolves in a rematch of last year’s Western Conference Finals. In last year’s playoffs, the Mavericks halted an electric Timberwolves’ playoff run in five games. Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving were great in the playoff series, but it was Dereck Lively II and Daniel Gafford outplaying Rudy Gobert and Karl-Anthony Towns that seemed to sink the Timberwolves playoff hopes. Since last season, the Timberwolves have reloaded by swapping Karl-Anthony Towns for Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo, and they will be looking for retribution in a revenge spot for Minnesota.
After a poor effort and performance in game one of the season, Minnesota has bounced back with two convincing wins against Sacramento and Utah. Julius Randle has seemed to fit into the offensive scheme quickly, scoring a combined 57 points off an efficient 67% field goal percentage. Minnesota fans seem to be well behind Randle after a trade that sent away one of their more beloved players. Randle received a standing ovation from Wolves fans in Saturday’s home opener for his efforts. Normally, I would like the team in the revenge spot for this contest, but this is ultimately the same Mavericks team that seemed to outmatch and outplay the Wolves in a short playoff series. The addition of Randle, who has never been known for his defensive prowess, shouldn’t slow down the play off the Dallas big men. Anthony Edwards will come out hot in this game, but he will still be faced with the problem of Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving. Considering Dallas just showed last season their dominance over Minnesota, taking Dallas plus the points is the safer play.
Dallas +5 available at the time of publishing. Playable at that number.