NBA: Phoenix Suns VS Minnesota Timberwolves Pick and Predictions 01/13/2023

Game: 8:00 PM ET,  Friday, January 13th, 2023

Venue:  Crypto.com Arena, Los Angeles, California

TV: NBA League Pass 

Suns: 21-22, 7th place Western Conference

Timberwolves: 20-22, 10th place Western Conference

BetMGM:  Point Spread:  T-Wolves -5.5, O/U 223.5

PointsBet: Point Spread: T-Wolves -5, O/U 223

Fanduel: Point Spread:  T-Wolves -5, O/U 223.5

Suns:  PF Torrey Craig, SF Dario Saric, C Bismack Biyombo, PG Duane Washington JR, SG Mikal Bridges

Timberwolves: SF Anthony Edwards, PF Jaden McDaniels, C Rudy Gobert, PG D’Angelo Russell, SG Austin Reeves

An NBA battle in the crowded Western Conference Standings.  The Phoenix Suns are in 7th place in the West, yet are only 1 win better than the Timberwolves who are in 10th place… The Suns also have the same amount of wins as the 4th place Sacramento Kings.  That is how the Western Conference is right now.  All NBA teams are at or have passed the halfway point of their season…. 82 games is a long grind, but there's still plenty of room on the schedule for anyone to rise or fall dramatically.  The Suns will NEED to rise in order to avoid a gut wrenching overhaul of a very recent Western Conference Finals contender.  The Timberwolves will need to do something simply because they are stuck in the same quicksand they have always been.  On paper the Timberwolves roster should be top contenders… They have two very big big men in KAT and Rudy Gobert… 1 offensively focused (though KAT is out with injury, 1 defensively focused… They have two dramatic scorers in Anthony Edwards and D’Angelo Russell… and while they don’t have the most depth in the league… They do have several high quality NBA role players to fill out the roster.  The Timberwolves have been this way for several seasons and they have very few wins of any importance to show for it.   The great betting opportunity in this game will be found in comparing the injury lists and the very recent numbers.

The Phoenix Suns have only won 2 of their last 10 games… They lost their last game in embarrassing blow-out fashion (as predicted here in this column) to the Denver Nuggets 126-97. In the loss C Deandre Ayton did not play, PG Chris Paul did noy play, and SG Devin Booker did not play… along with a few of their very important role players.  They were sitting ducks.  In the loss, the starting fives +/- numbers were so bad that at the tape of the game is not even worth reviewing before next practice…. Phycological help may need to be provided to some of the players that had started to think they belonged in the NBA.  A big part of the problem of course was the Nuggets have C Nikola Jokic who posted 21 points, 18 rebounds, and 9 assists in 28 minutes then got to sit the rest of the game.

The Minnesota Timberwolves have won 5 of their last 10 games… They need much more and they need it soon if they want to break .500 at some point in the season.  The Timberwolves lost their last game against the pathetic Detroit Pistons 135-118. In the loss SF Anthony Edwards (who should be playing SG) scored 20 points, PG D’Angelo Russell scored 19 points, and C Rudy Gobert posted 16 points & 14 rebounds… but defense was absolutely an afterthought. Russel and Edwards should be embarrassed that Ivey & Hines for Detroit scored 18 points each as 2nd year star PG Cade Cunningham is still sitting out with injury (or with tanking).  Pistons forwards Saddiq Bey and Bojan Bogdanovic had 31 and 27 points respectively… Both of those players are available to ANY team that is willing to make an offer of draft picks and expiring money.  The Timberwolves should be embarrassed.

 Asa Inc is 17-8 in NBA picks the last 7 days for a profit of $8,050!! You should be following a handicapper all season long! Get Asa Inc’s picks right now at the Shop Picks page, where you can find all of the Best Bets from our champion sports handicappers. BigAl.com can help you with all your bets from NCAAF, NFL, MLB, NHL… get positive value from all your bets! Remember: winning a bet is way more fun than making a bet!

PHO: 21-22, 21-22 ATS, 19-24 O/U, 7-15 in road games.

MIN: 20-22, 18-24 ATS, 20-22 O/U, 12-9 in home games.

The Suns are 17th in scoring with 112.7 points per game, 17th in rebounds with 43.2 per game, 4th in AST/TO with 1.9, and 12th in blocks per game with 5.0.

The Timberwolves are 12th in scoring with 114.8 points per game, 26th in rebounds with 41.9 per game, 24th in AST/TO ratio with 1.6, and 7th in blocks with 5.3 per game.

Our prediction for Friday, January 13th is…. Minnesota 128 - Phoenix 101

Blow Out alert.  The Suns are particularly vulnerable right now as SG Devin Booker, PG Cam Payne, and PF Cam Johnson will definitely miss the game.  The Suns could get Landry Shamet, Chris Paul, and Deandre Ayton back because they are all listed as Questionable… That will help but as they kick off the rust? Someone will have to play defense on an Embarrassed Anthony Edwards who will be looking to make a big statement as he has found himself rapidly falling out of the NBA conversation.  Plus Ayton is definitely having friction with the team and may be headed out of Phoenix if a good deal can be found. Bet on the Wolves.

Don't miss our champion handicappers' Free NBA Picks and Premium Selections every day here at Bigal.com. Just click on Shop Picks for our Suns/Timberwolves Best Bets, or click on Shop Subscriptions to join for a week or a month. And if you enjoyed this  preview, be sure to bookmark Bigal.com for our daily Game Previews and Predictions.  Get help with all your college football picks, National Football league, NCAA brackets, or any prop bets on your season schedule. 

Phoenix is 3-1 ATS versus Minnesota at Minnesota the last 3 seasons.

Minnesota is -14.2 UNITS on the season.

Suns:  SG/SF Mikal Bridges.  Mikal was an unheralded star last season as he did tons and tons of dirty work.  He is a fantastic 2-way player.  He can score and rebound and defend.  He is suffering the most from the absence of his star teammates as he has absolutely no room to do the dirty work.  This is a guy that knows his role and can have an immediate impact as the 3rd option on offense and a shut down defender…. But when all the pressure is put on his shoulders to lead the team?... The Suns get a lot less quality from him.

Timberwolves:  C Rudy Gobert.  Rudy is a great defender… but he is also a dinosaur.  He is a throwback to the old school center. A big center that gets rebounds and blocks is nice… but his part of the game should be just that.  The scorers around him must do the scoring.  There is a reason that when Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert were split up… Donovan got better while Rudy regressed a little.

Suns: Monty “Mr Class” Williams

Timberwolves: Chris “when does the winning start” Finch