NBA Odds, Picks, Predictions | Timberwolves vs Clippers Betting Guide

Timberwolves vs. Clippers Odds

The Minnesota Timberwolves will play the second game of a four-game road trip on Tuesday night when they travel to Los Angeles to take on the Clippers.

Minnesota lost the first game of its road trip to Golden State on Sunday. That was the Timberwolves' third straight loss, resulting in them sliding to the No. 9 seed in the West.

Los Angeles also suffered a loss on Sunday, a 134-124 overtime defeat to the Denver Nuggets.

The margin for error at this point of the season is very slim, especially in the crowded Western Conference where only three games separate the fourth and 11th seeds. Stick around to see the odds and prediction for the Minnesota Timberwolves vs Los Angeles Clippers matchup.

Minnesota Timberwolves

The Minnesota Timberwolves suffered an ugly loss at the hands of the Wizards right before the All-Star Break. Minnesota lost that game by a score of 114-106, scoring just 47 points in the second half after being up 18 points at halftime.

That inconsistent second half offense has stuck with the Timberwolves post All-Star Break. In Minnesota's first game back it scored 49 points in the second half against Charlotte, then following that matchup scored only 47 points in the final 24 minutes against Golden State.

Those kind of performances will likely hinder most teams from making a late season playoff push, and unfortunately for Minnesota those performances are nothing new.

According to NBA.com Minnesota owns a second-half Offensive Rating of 112.9, the ninth lowest rating in the NBA. That second half rating drops even further while on the road, coming in at 110.3.

Comparatively, Minnesota's second half Offensive Rating at home is 115.4. The Timberwolves don't always run out of gas after halftime, but as the away team it seems to happen quite often.

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Los Angeles Clippers

The Los Angeles Clippers come into this matchup as the No .5 seed in the West, but based on their play as of late that position in the conference is nowhere close to being safe.

Los Angeles has had tremendous difficulties on the defensive end of the floor recently. On Sunday night, the Clippers surrendered 134 points to the Nuggets, and prior to that the Clippers allowed Sacramento to score 176 points.

Part of the reason for such high point totals is because both of those matchups went into overtime, but LA still surrendered 120 points to Denver and 153 points to Sacramento in regulation. That should certainly raise some concern.

However, as the home team this season the Clippers have done a fantastic job on the defensive end. According to NBA.com the Clippers own a 110.4 Defensive Rating as the home team, holding their opponents to shooting 46% from the floor and 34% from behind the arc.

Timberwolves-Clippers Pick

This matchup features a Timberwolves team that has struggled on offense and a Clippers team that has struggled on defense. Normally I would lean towards backing the home team on the spread in those situations, but I think the under presents a good opportunity in this spot.

The under has been very friendly to bettors when the Clippers are at home this season. According to TeamRankings the under has hit in 75.9% of Clippers' home games, and it has hit in 62.2% of games where LA is playing a Western Conference opponent.

A similar trend occurs for the Timberwolves, as the under has hit in 54.8% of games in which they play a team from the West.

The last meeting between these two teams saw a total of 243, but the matchup prior to that saw a total of 177. That 177 point total came in Los Angeles where this game is being played and where low scoring games have happened often, and I think we likely see another low scoring contest in this one. I like the total down to 230.5.

Pick: Under 230.5 or Better

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