Minnesota Timberwolves vs New Orleans Pelicans Prediction, 11/18/2023 Preview and Pick
Game: Minnesota Timberwolves vs New Orleans Pelicans
Date: Saturday, November 18, 2023
Location: Smoothie King Center in New Orleans, LA
TV: Bally Sports New Orleans
Smoothie King Center is the location where the New Orleans Pelicans (5-6) will try to defeat the Minnesota Timberwolves (8-3) on Saturday.
The Timberwolves faced the Suns and went home with a loss by a final score of 133-115 in their last contest. With respect to personal fouls, the Timberwolves walked away with 14 and the Suns finished the game with 21 personal fouls. They also converted 17 of 31 attempts from beyond the arc. Phoenix ended up going 93.3% from the free throw line by making 14 of 15 tries. Moreover, Phoenix grabbed 32 boards (5 offensive, 27 defensive) and earned 5 rejections. Phoenix totaled 31 assists and had 1 steal for the game. When talking about defense, Minnesota allowed their opponent to shoot 60.0% from the field on 51 of 85 shooting. They also dished out 18 assists for the contest while forcing the other team into 9 turnovers and earning 8 steals. In terms of pulling down rebounds, they earned 40 with 16 of them being on the offensive end. At the charity stripe, the Timberwolves converted 26 of their 28 shots for a rate of 92.9%. Minnesota walked away from the game with a 45.7% FG percentage (42 out of 92) and made 5 of their 27 3-pointers.
Karl-Anthony Towns is a player who was a factor for this contest. He totaled 25 points on 10 of 17 shooting. He saw the court for 31 mins played and collected 7 rebounds. Towns finished the game shooting 58.8% from the field and also dished out 2 dimes.
Minnesota will take the court with a mark of 8-3 for the campaign. They are losing possession via turnover 15.4 times per game and as a team they are committing 18.7 personal fouls on a nightly basis. As a team, Minnesota is snagging 46.4 boards per game and has 267 assists so far this year, which is 20th in basketball in terms of passing the rock. The Timberwolves are shooting 35.8% on 3-point shots (119 of 332) and 77.1% from the free throw line. They have an average of 112.2 points per game (18th in the league) while hitting 48.3% from the floor.
Defensively, the Timberwolves are able to force 15.1 turnovers every game and they draw 20.5 personal fouls. They surrender 33.3% on 3-point attempts while they are 2nd in the league in points per game allowed (105.6). The Timberwolves defensively are giving up a FG percentage of 43.4% (432 of 996) and they relinquish 41.7 boards per contest as a team. They are ranked 10th in the NBA in giving up assists to the opposition with 277 surrendered for the campaign.
For their last game, the Pelicans went home victorious with a score of 131-110 when they played the Mavericks. The Pelicans recorded 30 defensive rebounds and 12 offensive rebounds for a total of 42 in the matchup. They also turned the ball over 12 times, while recording 17 steals for the matchup. The Mavericks were called for 16 fouls in this matchup which took the Pelicans to the free throw line for 26 tries. They were able to knock down 19 of those for a rate of 73.1%. Concerning 3-point shots, New Orleans converted 14 of 38 tries (36.8%). When the final whistle blew, the Pelicans walked away from this one shooting 49 for 94 from the field which had them at 52.1%. The Pelicans permitted the Mavericks to bury 38 of their 90 attempts from the field which gave them a rate of 42.2% for the contest. They went 33.3% from beyond the perimeter by shooting 14 out of 42 and ended up going 20 out of 26 at the free throw line (76.9%). Regarding rebounding, New Orleans allowed Dallas to snag 45 in all (16 on the offensive glass).
Jordan Hawkins was important for the Pelicans in this game. Hawkins tallied 25 points in his 33 minutes on the hardwood and had 3 assists for this game. He buried 8 out of 17 for the contest giving him a field goal percentage of 47.1%, and had 6 rebounds.
New Orleans has a mark of 5-6 for the year. The Pelicans have committed 20.1 fouls per contest and they hit 73.9% from the free throw line. They are earning an assist 23.8 times per contest (24th in the NBA) and they cough up possession 14.4 times per game. New Orleans has totaled 1,222 points for the campaign (111.1 per game) and they grab 44.2 boards per contest. When it comes to offensive execution, the Pelicans are shooting 45.9% from the floor, which has them ranked 22nd in the NBA.
The New Orleans defense allows 32.3% on 3-point shots (142 of 440) and their opponents are knocking down 77.6% of their foul shots. They allow 26.5 assists and 48.3 boards every game, which has them ranked 20th and 28th in the NBA. The Pelicans are ranked 20th in the NBA in PPG surrendered with 115.6. They are able to force 14.0 turnovers per game and have allowed teams to shoot 46.1% from the floor (13th in basketball).
Who will win tonight's NBA game against the spread?
Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take Minnesota
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