Minnesota Timberwolves vs Los Angeles Lakers Player Props, Picks & Predictions (March 10)

Odds as of March 10 at ESPN Bet. Claim the ESPN Bet North Carolina promo before launch tomorrow!

Thanks to a pair of ugly home losses from Golden State, the Lakers are back in ninth in the West in the NBA playoff bracket, one game up on the Warriors and 1.5 behind the #8 Dallas Mavericks.

Minnesota is the #2 seed at the moment, half a game behind OKC for top seed and tied with #3 Denver, record-wise.

Lakers Eke Out Win vs Bucks

Los Angeles comes into Sunday off a 123-122 win over Milwaukee on Friday night without LeBron James. D’Angelo Russell had a season-high 44 points and the Lakers, as a team, committed just five turnovers in the entire 48 minutes, helping to overcome a 43-38 deficit on the glass against the Bucks.

With the win, LA has now alternated wins and losses over its last five games but has managed to go 6-4 in its last ten.

As it often has this season, the Lakers’ injury report is lengthy on Sunday. LeBron (25.3 PPG, 8.0 APG, 7.1 RPG) is questionable with an ankle injury while Anthony Davis (24.7 PPG, 12. 3 RPG) is questionable with a sore shoulder. Cam Reddish (6.2 PPG) is listed as probable due to ank ankle injury while Christian Wood (6.9 PPG) is out with a knee issue.

Minnesota won both previous meetings between the teams this season: 118-111 on Dec 21, and 108-106 on Dec. 30. Both games were at the Target Center in Minneapolis.

T-Wolves Drop OT Thriller to Cavaliers

“Thriller” might be a bit of an overstatement for a game in which the Timberwolves scores just 17 points in the entire fourth quarter, but Friday’s 113-104 loss to the Cavaliers was certainly dramatic.

Other than 34 points off the bench from Naz Reid, Minnesota’s offense was on life support against Cleveland. Leading scorer Anthony Edwards had 19 points but was just 7-of-27 from the floor and 0-of-7 from three. Rudy Gobert grabbed 17 rebounds but Minnesota still finished -1 on the glass.

With another solid defensive performance, in which the T-Wolves held Cleveland to just 97 points in regulation, Minnesota improved it’s already-league-leading Defensive Rating to 108.1.

Their O-Rating, however, dropped to just 114.4, 18th in the NBA.

T-Wolves vs Lakers Player Props

Player props as of March 10  at DraftKings. Click here to download the DraftKings app North Carolina.

Despite his abysmal 7-of-27 performance last time out, Edwards is listed with a game-high point total of 31.5. LeBron (24.5) and AD (23.5) are both well over 20, as well. If either doesn’t suit up, wagers on their NBA player props will be voided.

Timberwolves vs Lakers Prediction

The Lakers offense has put on some impressive performances this season but, overall, is just 17th in the league in efficiency (114.9 O-Rating). Facing Minnesota’s league-best defense – either without James and/or Davis, or with their stars less than 100% – I expect LA’s offense to struggle. D-Lo can’t be counted on for 30-plus and LA’s injuries go deeper than just their stars.

MIN vs LAL pick: Lakers first-half under 54.5 (-125)

Sascha Paruk’s 2023-24 NBA betting record:

• 17-21 moneyline (+4.06 units)
• 19-17-2 ATS (+1.41 units)
• 7-12 player props (-6.82 units)
• 0-3 same-game parlay (-3.00 units)

All wagers one unit unless expressly stated otherwise