Magic vs Timberwolves NBA Betting Lines for two of the most improved Teams in the Season

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Two of the most improved teams in the NBA meet in a very intriguing matchup on Friday as the Orlando Magic visit the Minnesota Timberwolves – a total of four former No. 1 overall draft picks will be on the floor. The Wolves are solid home favorites on the NBA odds. 2024 NBA Expert Analysis Orlando vs Minnesota | MyBookie Sportsbook NBA Week 15

How to Bet Magic at Timberwolves NBA Odds & TV Info

When: Friday, 8 PM ET
Where: Target Center
TV: NBA League Pass
Stream: NBA.com, NBA TV app
Radio: Tunein.com
NBA Odds: Timberwolves -8 (total 211.5)

First Meeting

Orlando hosted Minnesota on Jan. 9 and the Wolves won easily 113-92. Karl-Anthony Towns scored 23 of his 28 points in the first half and Rudy Gobert had 21 points and 12 rebounds. The Wolves got just six points and three assists from leading scorer Anthony Edwards. The Timberwolves led 33-16 after a first quarter in which Gobert scored 11 points and the Magic shot 6 for 27 (22% ). Moritz Wagner led the Magic with 21 points and seven rebounds. Jalen Suggs had 20 points and five rebounds and Paolo Banchero had 18 points. The Magic shot only 35% for the game and 28% in the first half. Orlando still has won 10 of the past 14 in the series and also 11 of the last 16 visits to Minnesota.

Why Bet on Orlando Magic?

The Magic have alternated losses and wins over their past four and won in San Antonio, 108-98 on Wednesday. point guard Markelle Fultz returned to Orlando‘s starting lineup and the former No. 1 overall pick had 11 points. He joined guard Jalen Suggs (7 points) as well as forwards Franz Wagner (20) and Paolo Banchero (25) plus center Wendell Carter Jr. (14) to open a game for just the eighth time this season. Those were Orlando’s opening-night starters, a group that has been decimated by injuries.

Of the five, only Banchero, another former No. 1 overall pick, is the lone player to have not missed a game. He is averaging 25.8 points, 6.9 rebounds, 5.6 assists and 1.1 steals per contest across 15 outings since the start of the new calendar year. Wagner is having a career-best season with averages of 20.4 points, 5.7 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game.

“We’ve got to be better at the end of the third, start of the fourth,” Wagner said after Wednesday’s game in which the Spurs cut down a huge lead in the fourth to make it interesting. “It’s fine to have a couple of lapses here and there. We’ve got to make sure we keep those stretches a little shorter. It’s the second game in a row where we’ve had this now. We have to be better.”

Orlando’s opening-night starting five is clearly the team’s strongest lineup with 37.7 points, 8.1 assists and 16.4 rebounds in 16.8 minutes together being team-highs. The team is still without veteran guard Gary Harris, a key reserve. Wednesday marked the 14th straight contest that he has missed with a right calf strain but he did do on-court drills Wednesday and is now likely to play Friday. The 29-year-old will likely be on a minutes restriction.

Wednesday was Orlando’s 25th win of the season coming in the team’s 48th game and on Jan. 31. Last season, the Magic didn’t get their 25th win until game No. 60 on Feb. 23. Orlando is 7-9 this season in games decided by five points-or-less and 3-3 in games decided by two-points or less.

The bright side of ending January for the Magic players is that the schedule will lighten up. Orlando wants to put behind a 6-8 December and a 6-10 January and start picking up some steam heading into the playoffs. While this game is tough, the Magic have the easiest remaining schedule in the league, with nine games remaining against the bottom five teams, including three each against the Detroit Pistons and Charlotte Hornets.

The Magic last appeared in the playoffs in 2020 — before most of the current players joined the team. Also, it’s a source of frustration for the players that they haven’t had any national television appearances on TNT or ESPN yet. That will not change Friday.

Why Bet on Minnesota Timberwolves?

Minnesota won its second game in a row on Wednesday in trashing Dallas 121-87, although the Mavericks were without their two stars in Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving as well as a few others. The Mavs shot just 6 for 29 from 3-point range against the NBA’s best scoring defense. It was the fewest points allowed by the Wolves this season. Dallas shot 41 percent from the field, and was a catastrophic 6 for 29 from 3-point range.

The Timberwolves endured a sluggish offensive start until Karl-Anthony Towns sparked a run with two 3-pointers in the last 35 seconds of the first half to give them the lead for good.

“We felt a little weird at first, I guess,” said center Naz Reid, who had 12 points. “But we kind of ramped it up and started playing the right way. … I think we just locked in and became ourselves. I think that’s something that we can do throughout the whole game. An 82-plus game season, you have moments like that where you’ve got to find yourself and lock in.”

Towns, who finished with 29 points and nine rebounds, went 4-for-6 from 3-point range and is shooting a career-best 44.2% from deep. He made 48 three-pointers in January, the best such month of his career. Previously it was 45 makes in November 2019.

Leading scorer Anthony Edwards had nine points, five boards and five assists in 30 minutes. He only took five shots in the blowout. It was tied for his second-lowest scoring output of the season in a game he didn’t get hurt first. He helped limit Dallas guard Tim Hardaway Jr. to 14 points on 5-for-16. The game prior, Edwards tallied his 6,000th career point and became the third youngest player in NBA history to reach that mark.

Mike Conley returned to action after missing back-to-back games with a hamstring injury and had 10 points, four rebounds and three assists. Rudy Gobert had 17 points and six rebounds for a rare non double-double. Minnesota is 26-5 (.839) when Gobert has a double-double this season, third-best among players with 10+ double-doubles.

The Wolves outscored Dallas 38-17 in the fourth, their 12th game outscoring their opponent by 10+ points in the fourth quarter this season, most in the NBA. Minnesota has been stellar against the top teams in the NBA this season. Minnesota is third (.620) in winning percentage vs. teams that are currently .500 or better. The Wolves rank sixth (.488) in field goal percentage vs. teams that are currently .500 or better and first (.452) in the NBA in opponents FG% when facing teams that are currently .500 or better.

Minnesota coach Chris Finch is a top contender to coach the Western Conference in the All-Star Game with his team riding high atop the conference. The coaches for the two All-Star teams are expected to be announced by Sunday at the latest.

“It’d be a heck of an honor, for sure,” said Finch when asked about the possibility. “For myself, for the organization, but it’ll also be just like any other individual accolade is a reflection of the success the team’s having, which is the most important thing right now. We got a couple more games to go before that’s all decided I believe. That’s what’s most important in a really tight race is that we win those games, and everything that comes with that is a bonus.”

Magic vs Timberwolves

Timberwolves 111, Magic 105

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