Philadelphia 76ers vs. Minnesota Timberwolves Prediction, Preview, Picks & Odds - 2/25/2022

Time: 8 p.m. ET

Venue: Target Center, Minneapolis, MN

Where to watch: BSN, NBCSP

DraftKings: 76ers -2

BetMGM: 76ers -2.5

Caesars: 76ers -2

76ers: 35-23

Timberwolves: 31-28

James Harden has arrived and so has the future of the Philadelphia 76ers as we know it.

Who has any idea if this is actually going to work? The fact that the Sixers actually got Harden to move on from Ben Simmons is an indication that one of these things is not like the other. Clearly one of them didn't work, and now we are left here wondering if they are going to work at all.

Harden will make his Philadelphia debut on Friday against the Minnesota Timberwolves, and a highly anticipated second-half stretch for the 76ers awaits them. There's no doubt that the Sixers are giving Joel Embiid his best running mate of his career. No disrespect to Simmons, but there was only so much non-shooting and ridiculous boneheaded plays in Game 7 that he could have done to put his way out of Philadelphia.

Instead, the Sixers add not only a former league MVP, but they add a guy that is capable of dropping a triple-double every night. Whether or not the Sixers get the Houston form of Harden remains to be seen. While in Brooklyn, harden did not look himself. He was very lethargic and seemed like to go with emotions.

You can't actually blame him for feeling that way considering Kevin Durant was injured for a good portion of this run, and Kyrie Irving decided not to get vaccinated, costing him many games without his Brooklyn teammates. In a sense, harden approached this time with the Nets as a broken version of his time with Houston. He went to the Nets so we didn't have to touch the ball every time down the floor. I can't really blame him for wanting to get out of that situation.

But his time with Philadelphia should be a fruitful one, as the 76ers closed the first half of the season having won three out of their last four with Embiid playing like an MVP candidate. The Philadelphia big man closed the first half of the season with a ridiculous 42 points and 14 rebounds while making 14 of 21 from the field and 11 of 14 from the free-throw line, in a 3 point victory over the defending champion Milwaukee Bucks. Tobias Harris and Tyrese Maxey each had 19 points to offset the lack of depth that was plaguing Milwaukee.

The Sixers are right up there at the top of the Eastern Conference with Milwaukee, Cleveland, Miami, just to name a few. The top of the Eastern Conference is going to be a ridiculous race going forward, but Philadelphia has retooled at a perfect time.

Now is the time for the Minnesota Timberwolves to take over the way that we have all expected them to over the last number of years. Should it have taken this long? That remains to be seen, but one thing is for certain: the Timberwolves are in the thick of things in the Western Conference playoff race and they begin a very tough stretch in the second half with the hopes of getting back to the playoffs.

I don't envy Minnesota being in this position. We're talking about a team that has a lot of expectations, has not been able to live up to them, and whose first game out of the break is against a retooled Philadelphia team that just added a former MVP to their lineup. The fact that Minnesota is getting at least a couple of points in some books is pretty remarkable.

Minnesota is coming off a 12 point loss to the Toronto Raptors before the All Star break took place. Karl Anthony towns had 24 points and 11 rebounds but did not get help from anybody else. Anthony Edwards missed all eight of his shots, and D’Angelo Russell went two of 11 from the free throw line. Malik Beasley also went two of 11 off the bench in 18 minutes.

If just one of those guys made at least a few more shots, Minnesota probably would have gotten the win in this tough game against Toronto. The Timberwolves can't afford to lose these games against good teams in the fashion like this. They're going to need better nights from Edwards and Russell to actually make a run for something outside of the playing tournament, which is very difficult to muster at this point.

Minnesota fans are tired of having to wait for that season to actually be competitive in a playoff series, and I don't necessarily blame them. It's not like the times with Kevin Garnett leading the charge, but there is still so much young talent on this team to make up for the fact that they just have not done well to this point.

Maybe in the second half of the season they turn it around, go on a run and actually make the playoffs. But they're going to have to beat teams like Philadelphia in order to do it.

The 76ers have been a pretty good road team when it comes to the spread. Philadelphia has covered seven of its last nine against the spread, and are six and one in their last seven row games against the spread against teams with a winning percentage at home greater than 60%. The over has also gone pretty well for the Timberwolves over the last number of games including going over the last four times Minnesota was an underdog. That would normally be a good sign for Minnesota, but the Timberwolves defense has been a major problem as of late and I can't expect them to play defense well enough to stop Philadelphia is two stars. At the end of the day, I think it will be an inspired performance from Philadelphia that will lead to a win that should set things in motion for what should be an interesting run. 76ers by 10

The 76ers are 2-8 ATS this season off an upset win as an underdog.

The 76ers are 4-14 ATS off a road win this season.

The Timberwolves are 39-56 ATS at home the pat three seasons.

PG: Tyrese Maxey

SG: James Harden

SF: Matisse Thybulle

PF: Tobias Harris

C: Joel Embiid

PG: Patrick Beverley

SG: D'Angelo Russell

SF: Anthony Edwards

PF: Jarred Vanderbilt

C: Karl-Anthony Towns

Points: Joel Embiid -- 29.6

Rebounds: Joel Embiid -- 11.2

Assists: James Harden -- 10.2

Points: Karl-Anthony Towns -- 24.4

Rebounds: Karl-Anthony Towns -- 9.7

Assists: D'Angelo Russell -- 7.0