by Chuck Sommers
Saturday, Jan 22, 2022
Time: 8 p.m. ET
Venue: Target Center, Minneapolis, MN
Where to watch: BSN, YES
Opening Odds at USA Sportsbooks
WynnBet: Timberwolves -2.5
BetOnline: Timberwolves -2.5
Caesars: NL
Season record
Nets: 29-16 (1st place, Eastern Conference)
Timberwolves: 22-23 (9th place, Western Conference)
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Nets - Timberwolves preview, analysis and prediction
it's another Brooklyn Nets road game, which means Kyrie Irving will play for the Nets on Sunday against the Minnesota Timberwolves.
This will not turn into a situation where I will question whether or not NBA players should be vaccinated, but it does make you wonder how much better of a team the Nets would be if Irving was able to play home games for his team.
Because you saw on Friday what can happen if Irving and James Harden are playing the way that they did against the San Antonio Spurs. Albeit, it was against a Spurs team that has lost ten of 13 and is looking more and more like the cellar dwellers that we all envision them to be.
But for as long as Kevin Durant remains on the sidelines, it will have to be up to Harden to carry the load on both ends of the floor. And that's exactly what he did when the former MVP at 37 points, 10 rebounds, and 11 assists against the Spurs.
"(Harden) got into his groove," Brooklyn's Patty Mills said. "He felt where he could make an impact on the game. Got into the paint, obviously shot it well and as well from the 3. When he has that variety, he gets it going pretty quickly and pretty easily."
The biggest question for the Nets right now is how do they find the level of consistency with Durant on the sidelines? Harden will do his part, Irving will get his buckets, but the Nets are at that point where at 29-16 they should be in the running as the best team in the Eastern Conference.
At this moment, we just have no idea. Much like we have no idea what to expect from the Timberwolves after they lost by 12 to the Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday. If Anthony Edwards doesn’t get ejected from that game, does Minnesota win? More than likely yes.
But that loss to Hawks, with or without Edwards, was another sign that Minnesota is too young of a team and too fragile mentally to take care of business against teams they should beat. The T-Wolves led 42-26 at the end of the first quarter and still lost; they gave up 45 points in the third quarter.
"I was pretty frustrated," Timberwolves coach Chris Finch said. "... And I was also frustrated with the way we were playing overall. I kept saying we've got enough game left to get back into it but we never could get enough stops."
Minnesota will likely not have point guard Patrick Beverley in the lineup due to a sprained ankle. Beverly's defense would absolutely be a plus in order to stop harden or Irving, perhaps both, but Minnesota being without its defensive ace would be a huge deficit to overcome.
That being said, the Nets should win this comfortably. I have no doubt that harden will once again have a big game, and while the temptation is big over a potential D'Angelo Russell revenge game, I can't see that happening this time. Nets by 12
Betting trends
The Nets are 8-2 ATS when the line is between +3 and -3 on the road.
The Nets are 9-14 ATS after winning two of three.
The Timberwolves are 9-9 ATS as a favorite.
Projected starting lineup
Nets:
PG: James Harden
SG: Kyrie Irving
SF: Patty Mills
PF: Kessler Edwards
C: LaMarcus Aldridge
SF: Patty Mills
PF: Kessler Edwards
C: LaMarcus Aldridge
Timberwolves:
PG: Jaylen Nowell
SG: D'Angelo Russell
SF: Anthony Edwards
PF: Jarred Vanderbilt
C: Karl-Anthony Towns
SF: Anthony Edwards
PF: Jarred Vanderbilt
C: Karl-Anthony Towns
Key injuries
Nets: Kevin Durant (MCL, out), Nic Claxton (hamstring, out)
Timberwolves: Patrick Beverley (ankle, questionable)
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Chuck Sommers
About the Author:
Chuck Sommers has camped outside of sportsbooks since he can remember, learning the tricks and nuances of the trade. He still has nightmares of betting $5,000 on the Raiders in the Tuck Rule game but has since turned that to 25 years of veteran handicapping greatness. You can find him mostly in the shadows at the Red Rock or Aliante casinos wondering if the over is cashing on any given Sunday.
