Timberwolves vs Lakers Odds, Picks, Predictions & Player Props (Game 2)

• The Minnesota Timberwolves can take a commanding 2-0 on the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday night
• After getting blown out in the series opener, the Lakers are heavy favorites to tie the series in Game 2
• See the Timberwolves vs Lakers odds, picks, and predictions on April 22

The Minnesota Timberwolves (49-33, 24-17 away, 39-42-1) made a statement in the first game of their best-of-seven series with the Los Angeles Lakers (50-32, 31-10 home, 45-35-2 ATS), cruising to a 117-95 road victory. Oddsmakers don’t see Minnesota accomplishing the same feat on Tuesday night when the teams meet for Game 2 at crypto.com Arena at 7:10 pm PT/10:10 pm ET. The Timberwolves vs Lakers Game 2 odds heavily favor Los Angeles evening the series before it shifts to Minnesota for Games 3 and 4.

Minnesota Timberwolves vs Los Angeles Lakers Odds (Game 2)

After closing as 4.5-point chalk in Game 1, the Lakers are six-point chalk in Game 2 and -230 on the moneyline, which amounts a 69.7% implied win probability. The Timberwolves, who cashed as +170 underdogs on Saturday, are +190 (34.48% implied win probability) to take a 2-0 series lead.

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The Lakers/Timberwolves series price moved from -195/+160 in LA’s favor before Game 1 to -150/+125 in Minnesota’s favor heading into Game 2. The Lakers’ NBA championship odds also took a big hit, fading from +1400 all the way to +2200 after the ugly Game 1 setback.

Can Minnesota Stay Hot from Three?

It’s no secret what propelled the Timberwolves to their 22-point Game 1 victory; Minnesota heaved up 42 threes and hit half of them. Jaden McDaniels was a perfect 3-of-3 while scoring a team-high 25 points while Naz Reid added 23 off the bench of 6-of-9 shooting from beyond the arc. Minnesota finished Game 1 with a 64.7 True Shooting Percentage (TS%).

The Wolves are a good three-point-shooting team but those Game 1 numbers are not sustainable. Minnesota finished the regular season with a 58.8 TS% (11th in the NBA) and a 37.7 3P% (fourth).

The Lakers, meanwhile, were seventh in TS% (59.3) and 14th in 3P% (36.6). Yet, in Game 1, LeBron James and company shot just 39.8% from the floor. Luka Doncic did his part with 37 points on 12-of-22 shooting (5-of-10 from three) with eight rebounds. LeBron added 19 points on 8-of-18 from the floor. The rest of the Laker lineup made just 13 field goals on 43 attempts (30.2%).

LA’s ball movement was borderline atrocious. The entire team finished with just 15 assists and 13 turnovers. Minnesota was much more in-rhythm with 29 assists and just 10 turnovers.

MIN vs LAL Regular-Season Results

Saturday’s Game 1 was the first time this season that the road team had won this matchup. Both teams won twice on their home court during the regular season, and the winning team covered the spread in all four matchups.

It was also the fifth time in five games this year that the total stayed under in a Lakers/Timberwolves game, and none of them have been particularly close, either. Saturday’s game, which finished with a 212 points against a total of 215.5, was the closest these teams have come to hitting an over this season.

MIN vs LAL Player Props

NBA player props from DraftKings on April 22.

Doncic (28.2 PPG, 8.2 RPG, 7.7 APG) leads the point totals again at 30.5, a number he breezed past in Game 1. Anthony Edwards (27.6 PPG, 5.7 RPG, 4.5 APG) has the highest total on the Minnesota side at 25.5. Ant finished with 22 in Game 1 on 8-of-22 shooting. He was the only Minnesota starter who didn’t shoot over 50% from the floor.

Rudy Gobert (12.0 PPG, 10.9 RPG, 1.8 APG) has the highest rebound total of the night at 10.5. He finished with just six boards in 24 minutes in Game 1 as Minnesota opted to go small a lot of the time against the vertically-challenged Lakers. Even with Gobert playing limited minutes, the Wolves were still +6 on the glass after 48 minutes.

Doncic and LeBron (24.4 PPG, 7.8 RPG, 8.2 APG) are tied for the highest assist total at 6.5 O/U. They combined for just four dimes in Game 1.

MIN Timberwolves vs LA Lakers Prediction & Picks

• Gobert under 10.5 rebounds (-105)
• Timberwolves ML (+190)

Los Angeles’ lack of front-court size allowed Minnesota coach Chris Finch to play floor-spacing center Naz Reid for 31 minutes without losing much of an edge on the glass. I think he would be crazy not to roll with that gameplan again in Game 2 given how well it worked in Game 1.

That leads to my first MIN/LAL pick of the day, Gobert under 10.5 rebounds. Yes, if he is on the floor, he could absolutely clean up on the defensive end against LA’s subpar frontcourt. But he limites what Minnesota can do on offense so I expect more Reid than Gobert again tonight.

I am also going to target the Minnesota moneyline at +190. After what we saw in Game 1, there is no reason for the Timberwolves’ moneyline to get longer. They are much better than the Lakers defensively and shoot better from three, an edge that only increases if Reid, a 37.9% three-point shooter, is on the floor in place of Gobert.