Mavericks vs Timberwolves Western Finals Odds, Preview and Score Prediction

For only the second time in history, the Dallas Mavericks and Minnesota Timberwolves will meet in a playoff series as they open the Western Conference Finals from the Twin Cities on Wednesday night with the Wolves favored on the NBA odds.

Doncic (knee/ankle) and Mike Conley (Achilles) are probable for Wednesday’s Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals.

Dallas Mavericks Odds +114

The Mavericks beat West top-seeded Oklahoma City in six games, finishing the Thunder 117-116 on Saturday. Dallas was down 16 at the half – it was the largest halftime comeback in Mavs’ playoff history and also was the fourth-largest halftime comeback in a series-clinching playoff victory in NBA history.

Dallas was still down a point in the final seconds after OKC’s Chet Holmgren scored on a dunk for a 116-115 lead with 20.4 seconds remaining. Luka Doncic worked the ball up the court, then fed P.J. Washington in the left corner, and he was subsequently fouled by Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander while attempting a three-point shot with just 2.5 seconds left. The Thunder, who had one timeout remaining, challenged the foul and subsequently lost the challenge and their last time out.

Washington stepped to the free throw line and buried the first two charity tosses to give the Mavs a one-point lead. Washington then intentionally missed the third free throw and OKC didn’t have enough time to get off a good shot.

Luka Doncic played 44 minutes of 48 minutes and had his third straight triple-double with 29 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists to get the Mavs to the Western Conference Finals for the second time in three years. Only four players in NBA history have had three-or-more straight games with a triple-double in the playoffs (Nikola Jokić, Wilt Chamberlain, Draymond Green, Russell Westbrook).

Doncic struggled with multiple injuries throughout this series and averaged 24.7 points — a significant drop-off from his league-leading 33.9 in the regular season — and shot 44.7% from the floor despite finding his touch in the final two games.

Kidd improved to 5-0 in closeout games in his head coaching career, winning his 26th career playoff game (26-28). The Mavericks notched 14 offensive rebounds tonight against the Thunder, outrebounding them on the offensive boards (14-7) for 27 second chance points (27-8). The Mavericks have had at least 14 offensive rebounds in a game four times this playoff for the first time since 2015.

Forward Derrick Jones Jr., who arrived on a veterans minimum deal in the summer, scored 22 points. Rookie center Dereck Lively II, the Mavs’ prize for tanking the final two games of last year’s failure of a regular season, overpowered Oklahoma City off the bench with 12 points and 15 rebounds as Dallas dominated the rebounding battle.

The Mavericks are 2-3 (.400) all-time in the Western Conference Finals. Prior to this season, Dallas had never made the conference finals as a No. 5 seed or lower.

Minnesota Timberwolves Odds -139

On Sunday at defending NBA champion Denver, the Timberwolves made NBA history by becoming the first team ever to trail by at least 15 points at halftime and win a Game 7 as they prevailed 98-90 to eliminate the champs. In fact, the Wolves trailed by 20 in the third quarter. The Wolves turned to their defense, the NBA’s stingiest, to get back into the game, and they closed the quarter on a 28-9 run to pull to 67-66 heading into the fourth.

Rudy Gobert gave the Wolves their first lead since the first quarter with a bucket to start the fourth and when Karl-Anthony Towns picked up his fifth foul, Naz Reid, the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year, was spectacular at both ends of the floor to keep Minnesota ahead. In one crucial stretch that started with Minnesota ahead 85-82, Reid had two free throws and a dunk before feeding Anthony Edwards for a back-breaking 3-pointer that put the Wolves ahead 92-82 with three minutes left.

The Nuggets became the fifth consecutive defending NBA champion to fail to reach the conference finals — and the first team in league history to lead by 15 or more at halftime of a Game 7 and go on to lose.

This postseason, the Timberwolves have held opponents under 100 points six times and won them all. They were the No. 1 scoring defense during the year and went 24-3 when holding foes under 100. Those games were the most such games in the NBA and the 24 wins also the most. Center Rudy Gobert finished sixth in the league in blocked shots this season at 2.1 per game, and also won the NBA’s Defensive Player of the Year this season for the fourth time in seven years.

Edwards has been one of the breakout stars of these playoffs but actually struggled Sunday, shooting 6-of-24 from the field to finish with 16 points, eight boards and seven assists. Edwards got off to a brutal start, shooting 1-of-7 from the field in the first half. He was better in the third quarter and defended Jamal Murray well in the second half.

Edwards and Mavs superstar Luka Doncic have faced off 10 times in the regular season all-time with each player coming away with five wins. Overall in these playoffs, Edwards is averaging 28.9 points on 50.4% shooting (39.8% from 3), 6.2 rebounds and 5.9 assists. Over their 11 playoff games, the Wolves have been 19.4 points per 100 possessions better in the second half (plus-18.4) than they’ve been in the first half (minus-1.0). They’ve trailed seven of the 11 games at halftime, but have won four of those seven. The half-to-half difference has been almost entirely about offense. The Wolves have had the playoffs’ 11th-ranked first-half offense (106.7 points scored per 100 possessions) and its top-ranked second-half offense (125.8 scored per 100).

Bet Mavericks at Timberwolves NBA Odds

When: Wednesday, 8:30 PM ET
Where: American Airlines Arena
TV: TNT
Stream: TNT app
Radio: Tunein.com

Mavericks vs Timberwolves Season Series

Minnesota was 3-1 vs. Dallas, but the Mavericks didn’t have Luka Doncic for two of the four or Kyrie Irving for three of them. Doncic is averaging 24.8 points (.441 FG%), 7.7 rebounds and 7.4 assists in 15 career games (9-6 record) against the Timberwolves. The Mavericks are 77-59 (.566) all-time against the Timberwolves franchise (41-27 at home, 36-31 on the road). The only other playoff meeting between the teams was the first round in 2002 when Dallas swept three.

The Celtics take game 1 against the pacers in OT😳🔥

IND +10 / ML -420 / OVER 223.5✅ pic.twitter.com/fRsGRIgpwt

— MyBookie – Bet With The Best (@MyBookie) May 22, 2024

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