The Portland Trail Blazers and the Minnesota Timberwolves will be meeting each other for the second time in a span of three days. During their first meeting, it was the Trail Blazers who took home the victory, in a score of 124-118. Their second meeting will be on December 13, 2022, at 11:00 AM (GMT+8), as the Trail Blazers host their match against the Timberwolves. The hosts are currently at 13-13, and was at the eighth in the standings, after their back-to-back wins. On the other hand, the visitors are at 14-12, ninth in their standings after suffering a loss against the Nuggets. These two teams are coming in this game with different results form their previous matches.
The hosts actually lost three matches, but they were lucky enough to bounce back and win three of their last four games. Additionally, despite the injuries of their stars, they were able to adjust now, resulting to their recent results. They have also improved defensively which have been their problem before. The visitors on the other hand are coming from a loss against the Nuggets, despite their efforts to climb back. Defense have been their number one problem, forcing too many turnovers in their recent games. However, if they could do something for their defense, they will be a very dangerous squad.
Portland Trail Blazers
The Trail Blazers was thankfully able to go back to winning ways after their narrow defeat against the Nuggets. That win was against the Timberwolves, where they will be meeting the same opponent for this match. During their win against the Timberwolves on their last game, they were able to record their third victory from their last four games. According to their coach, what wakes his team up is when they realized that they were giving away baskets so easily. That just proves that they indeed have a problem defensively since too easy baskets are granted for their opponents. Now, they are aiming for consistency, especially that they finally have a healthy lineup, after series of injuries. They are currently ninth in the league as they score 114.0 points per game, and 24th in defense as they give up 114.5 points per game.
Damian Lillard is still the number one scorer for the Trail Blazers. It is not surprising though as he had 40 and 36 respectively during their last two matches. However, injuries are still hunting them as some of their guys are still unavailable for this game. Nassir Little, and Gary Payton II both still nursing their injuries, so they will not play in this game.
Minnesota Timberwolves
Currently at 13-13, the Timberwolves failed to extend their winning streak to three games. It was their second loss in their last five games. Actually, they had their chances on that match, as they were able to cut a 10-point lead in the third quarter. However, as they face the same opponent for this match, they are hoping to get different result. Defensively, the Timberwolves are playing really bad, area where they badly need to improve. Fortunately for this squad, they were able to have at least some sort of improvements defensively. They are a team who plays at a high-pace, thus, they sometime collapse defensively. Their ability to steal and to trigger fast breaks are slowly improving, an optimistic sight for them. In fact, they are 18th offensively, as they give up 113.0 points per game.
Anthony Edwards, Rudy Gobert, and D’Angelo Russel are the guys who lead the Timberwolves. However, it is unfortunate for them that they will be without their main man, Karl Anthony-Towns, who sustained calf injury.
Prediction:
Portland Trail Blazers
Total Under: 118.5
Odds: 0.89
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