Perhaps in continued deference to the NCAA Tournament, it’s another light night of action on the pro hardwood, with just seven games on the Friday NBA odds board. The best of the bunch — and the only one involving two squads trying to solidify playoff positions — comes from the Twin Cities.
For the second time this week, the Mavericks and Timberwolves hook up, with this clash taking place in Minnesota. Dallas is in a Western Conference dogfight with Utah for fourth place — which comes with home-court advantage in the first round of the postseason — while Minnesota is trying to get out of play-in tournament purgatory.
It’s a showdown of two of the league’s brightest stars, as Dallas’ Luka Doncic battles Minnesota’s Karl-Anthony Towns. And Props.com has the full breakdown in our Friday NBA betting preview.
Friday NBA odds via DraftKings and updated as of 2:50 p.m. ET.
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Dallas Mavericks Vs Minnesota Timberwolves
Tipoff/TV: 8 p.m. ET/NBA League Pass
Mavericks: 45-28 SU/40-32-1 ATS
Timberwolves: 42-32 SU/40-32-2 ATS
Spread/Total: Timberwolves -4/228
Last meeting: Dallas edged the Timberwolves 110-108 on Monday, barely cashing as a 1-point home favorite
Did you know: Minnesota is the NBA’s top Over team at 44-30, while Dallas is the league’s top Under team 25-47-1. That said, these squads have hurdled the total in seven of their last nine meetings, including two of three this season. Also, the winning team is averaging 122.2 points in the last 12 series meetings
About Dallas: The Mavericks followed up Monday’s victory over Minnesota with a 110-91 rout of Houston on Wednesday, easily cashing as a 10-point home chalk. Dallas has dropped its last two road games at Charlotte (129-108) and Philadelphia (111-101), but prior to that it had won five in a row and seven of eight on the highway, going 6-1-1 ATS along the way. With nine regular-season games remaining, the Mavericks are in a flat-footed tie with Utah for fourth place in the Western Conference standings. Both teams are three games behind third-place Golden State and 2.5 games ahead of sixth-place Denver.
About Minnesota: The Timberwolves are desperately trying to get out of seventh place in the West and avoid the NBA’s play-in playoff tournament. Following Wednesday’s 125-116 loss to Phoenix as a 2-point home favorite, Minnesota sits one game behind sixth-place Denver. Both teams have eight games to go. Prior to Wednesday, the TWolves had won and covered six consecutive home games. Also, before the SU/ATS losses to Dallas and Phoenix this week, Minnesota had been on a 10-1 spread-covering roll overall. With nearly identical ATS records this season, Dallas and Minnesota rank sixth and seventh in the NBA’s ATS standings.
Injuries: Doncic (ankle) sat out Wednesday’s game against Houston, but is listed as probable Friday. Doncic is averaging 27.9 points, 9.1 rebounds, and 8.6 assists per contest … Towns (forearm) has been listed as questionable prior to the last three games but has played in each one and is expected to go tonight. Towns is averaging 24.7 points and 9.9 rebounds per outing. He’s scored 22, 24 and 26 points in three games against Dallas this season.
Notable Trends
- Dallas is 14-6-1 ATS in its last 21 overall
- Dallas is 7-2 ATS in its last nine as an underdog
- Minnesota is 15-5-1 ATS in its last 21 at home
- Minnesota is 10-2-1 ATS in its last 13 as a home favorite
- Under is 36-17 in Dallas’ last 53 overall
- Under is 41-17 in Dallas’ last 58 as an underdog
- Over is 35-16 in Minnesota’s last 51 overall
- Over is 22-8 in Minnesota’s last 30 as a favorite
- Dallas is 10-4 ATS in its last 14 vs. Minnesota
- Home team is 4-0 SU/ATS in the last four series meetings
Dallas Mavericks Vs Minnesota Timberwolves Odds and Action
UPDATE 6:25 P.M. ET: The Timberwolves hit DraftKings’ Friday NBA odds board as a 2- point favorite late Thursday night, then briefly dipped to -1. However, Minnesota has been steadily climbing since, going to 1.5, 2, 2.5 and 3 before settling at -3.5 as of late morning ET. The line remained TWolves -3.5 until rising to -4 mere minutes ago. Minnesota is taking 61% of the tickets and 78% of the money.
The total opened at 228, ticked down to 227, then jumped as high as 229.5 by late morning. It’s now back at the opening number of 228. At DraftKings, 82% of the wagers and 84% of the cash are on the Over.
