Believe it or not, there's actually some value in betting on the Minnesota Timberwolves / Houston Rockets game on Saturday night although it might not be where you think. This is definitely a matchup of one team not living up to their preseason expectations in Minnesota to one perhaps exceeding theirs in the Rockets. In the 1st weekend after the All-Star break, it's time to see if these trends continue.
The Timberwolves sit in the 13th seed in the West which is a disappointment with all the young talent on their roster. Regardless, the 2016/17 season is not yet a wash because surprisingly Minnesota is still only 3.5 games out of the 8th seed in the playoffs. The Rockets, on the other hand, have been one of the best teams in the NBA all season and sit only 4.0 games behind San Antonio for the #2 seed in the West. Bottom line – both teams have something to play for in this game.
Minnesota Timberwolves at Houston Rockets (Spread and Total)
The odds aren't exactly in the Timberwolves favour for Saturday night. First off the Rockets are one of the NBA's better home court teams compiling a 21-7 record at the Toyota Center this season. To compound things, the schedule makers gave Minnesota a back-to-back fresh out of the All-Star gates with their home game against Dallas on Friday night.
Houston may not yet be full strength themselves however after opening up the 2nd part of the season against the reloaded combination of Anthony Davis, DeMarcus Cousins, and the Pelicans on Thursday night.
Minnesota Timberwolves at Houston Rockets Pick
Although the two teams are on opposite sides of the spectrum in the Western Conference standings, they actually match up pretty well against each other. In their most recent meeting on 1/11 Minnesota actually scored the upset outright win as +3 dogs with an 119-105 home victory. Their previous matchup on 12/17 in Minnesota also went to overtime with Houston finally notching a 109-111 win.
Both of the previous games between these two squads went over the total and the number for this tilt could be swayed because of that. It's important to note that one of the games went into overtime and the fact that both of them were played in Minnesota. It can be tempting to side with Houston as the T'Wolves are on the second leg of the back to back. Still, the over is the trend with these two teams as it has hit in 13 out of 15 of their combined matchups including 9 out of 10 for Minnesota.
