On Thursday, Game 5 of the NBA Playoffs in the Western Conference will take place. It is the Dallas Mavericks on the road at the Minnesota Timberwolves. The Dallas Mavericks lead the best of seven series 3-1 after losing on Tuesday at home. The winner of this series will head to the NBA Finals and take on the Boston Celtics.
Dallas won the first three games of this series, but could not pull out the win on Tuesday. The loss dropped the Mavericks to 11-5 so far in the postseason. During the regular season the Mavericks went 50-32. That was good enough for the fifth seed. So far in the postseason, Dallas has taken down the Clippers and Oklahoma City.
For Minnesota, despite being in the Western Conference Finals, they are just 9-6 in the postseason. Minnesota swept Phoenix in 4 games. The second round was tough, as they needed Game 7 to eliminate the Denver Nuggets. The Timberwolves were 56-26 in the regular season, which was good enough for third in the West.
The Minnesota Timberwolves are -4.5 in this game over the Dallas Mavericks. The total for htis game is set at 209.5.
Dallas Needs One More Win
Kyrie Irving was not as strong in Game 4 as he was in the previous three. The point guard settled for 16 points, but was just 6 of 18 from the field. Luka Doncic still put up his numbers, as he recorded a triple double. Doncic had 28 points, 15 rebounds and 10 assists in the game. Dallas also saw Daniel Gafford score 13, and PJ Washington record 10.
In the Game 3 win, both Irving and Doncic scored 33 points. The Mavericks are deadly when both the guards can pour in points. Dallas was in the Top 10 in scoring all season. The Mavericks settled the season at 117.9 points per game. The Mavericks were also one of the top three point shooting teams, making 14.6 per game.
In the series against Oklahoma City, in the two losses the Mavericks had, they scored just 95.5 points per game. In the four wins, they were able to put up 111.2 points per game. In this series, they are at 112.5 in their wins, and they scored just 100 points on Tuesday.
Timberwolves Looking to Stay Alive
For Minnesota, it was great to see Karl Anthony Towns step up and keep his team alive. The big man scored 25 points in the game. He was 9 for 13 from the field, and 4 from 5 from downtown. This came following a game where he went 0 for 8 from three. Towns was averaging just 15 in this series before this game.
Anthony Edwards has had a breakout postseason so far. He scored 29 in the win. Edwards also did other things well in the game. The point guard recorded 10 rebounds and dished out 9 assists. Edwards is averaging 23.75 points per game in this series. In the series against Denver, he had 44 in Game 44 after 43 in Game 1.
Minnesota scored 113 points per game in the regular season. That was just 18th in the league. The Timberwolves make nearly 39% from downtown. They are right in the middle of the pack in team rebounding, with 43.6 per game, while also 15th in assists, with 26.6.
Minnesota Keeps Going
The Minnesota Timberwolves got a big one on Tuesday. It kept them alive, and also got them back home. The Timberwolves really want to show the home fans some love, and grab a Western Conference Finals win at home.
We feel they have what it takes. We are going to take the Minnesota Timberwolves -4.5 over the Dallas Mavericks in Game 5 on Thursday. Enjoy the game!
