Portland Trail Blazers vs. Minnesota Timberwolves Prediction, Preview, and Odds

The Portland Trail Blazers are crawling toward the finish line of the 2022-23 season with five straight losses and 11 in the last 12 games. The Blazers were recently eliminated from the playoffs and the team's brass is undoubtedly already planning its offseason strategy with just five games remaining in the season. Portland recently announced that all-star guard Dame Lillard would be shut down for the season, further diminishing a banged-up roster. On Friday night, the Blazers lost their second straight game to the Kings, 132-114 at home. Rookie Shaedon Sharpe had 27 points to lead the banged-up Blazers in the loss.

“It always sucks to lose,” he said. To get to this point in the season, I didn’t think we would be here last year, to be honest with you, but we are. These games are tough. Tough on me, tough at all levels.”

The Blazers are truly playing out the string with just five games left and a severely depleted roster. In addition to Lillard's absence, the team is without starters Jusuf Nurkic (knee), Anfernee Simons (foot) and Jerami Grant (quad). It is unlikely any of the three will return before the season ends. The Blazers have been forced to add additional players for the rest of the season. The team recently signed Skylar Mays and Shaq Harrison to 10-day contracts that will get them through the rest of the season.

No House Advantage: Bet on player over/unders VS THE HOUSE to 21x your bet OR play in PICK 'EM contests against other people! Click here to get a 1st deposit match up to $100 1st w/ promocode WandW!The Minnesota Timberwolves are officially in must-win mode for the remainder of the season. The team sits at 39-39 and in ninth place in the Western Conference. The Wolves are a half-game behind the Lakers and Pelicans and a half-game ahead of Oklahoma City in a four-team logjam in the play-in spots. The Mavericks are just a half-game out of the tenth spot as well. On Friday night, the Wolves lost their second straight game in a 123-111 loss to the Lakers at home. The Wolves led by 10 points at halftime but the Lakers took over in the third quarter thanks to a 24-2 run. Mike Conley had 25 points and seven assists while Karl-Anthony Towns had 23 points in the critical loss.

“We started to turn the ball over, and the ball started to stick much more,” Minnesota center Rudy Gobert said. “We kind of lost our flow offensively, and it really affected our defense.”

Time is running out for the Timberwolves and they can't afford any more losses. The team recently welcomed back all-star big man Karl-Anthony Towns and has gone 2-2 since his return. Towns is averaging 21.3 points per game and over six rebounds since his return. Minnesota is 5-5 in its last ten games. Defensively, the T-Wolves have stuggled in that span, giving up just under 118 points per game. Minnesota is just 1-2 vs. the Blazers this season.

Key Injuries: Austin Rivers is questionable after missing Friday's game with an illness.

Best Bets for this Game

Insiders Status:

Each team has played under the total in three of the last four games. Portland has lost far too many points to injury to put up major offensive numbers in recent games. The Wolves, despite a defense that has struggled recently, should be able to keep the depleted Blazers near the 100-point mark in this game. Portland is just 22nd in pace of play in the NBA and has scored under 100 points in three of its last five games. This should be a one-sided affair that will stay under the total.