Minnesota Timberwolves at Detroit Pistons Picks, Predictions and Odds Feb 3
Minnesota Timberwolves at Detroit Pistons Betting Preview
WagerTalk NBA handicapper Andy Lang offers his Minnesota Timberwolves at Detroit Pistons betting preview for Thursday, February 3. At the time of posting, the Timberwolves have opened as a 7-point favorite over the home Pistons, with the total sitting at 217.5 points.
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| Thursday, February 3 | NBA Betting Notes |
|---|---|
| Point Spread: | Minnesota Timberwolves -7 vs Detroit Pistons |
| Total: | 229 Points |
| Game Time: | 7:10pm ET / 4:10pm PT |
| Arena: | Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, MI |
| TV: | Bally Sports Detroit |
Minnesota Timberwolves at Detroit Pistons Analysis
Detroit is getting hammered with snow today, but will they get hammered by the Timberwolves tonight? The books seem to think so as the Timberwolves are -7 favorites tonight with a total of 229 and they may get D’Angelo Russell back tonight in some capacity, possibly with minutes restrictions.
The Pistons will wait to see how Cade Cunningham feels later today as they may sit him as this is the first game of a back to back and he left the game early on Tuesday with a hip issue. Despite the injuries, I know there’s a winning bet in here somewhere…let’s try and find it.
Timberwolves Confident
Minnesota has been playing really good ball recently as they are 6-3 in their last nine, and their losses are not bad losses.
They lost to Atlanta who was on fire, then they lost to Golden State in a game they were up at halftime before D’Angelo Russell got injured, and the next night they lost to Phoenix who is the best team in the league.
They have won two straight against Denver and Utah, and while they haven’t been covering all these games, they have been an over team recently as they are 8-2 to the over in their last 10, and 3-0 their last 3.
KAT has really played well during this stretch and has picked up some of the assist numbers in Russell’s absence as has Anthony Edwards, and I really like the speed and athleticism advantage Minnesota will have tonight.
Pistons Wins Few and Far Between
The Pistons beat the Cavs on Sunday, but then came back and lost on Tuesday to New Orleans. Their longest winning streak this season is two, and it’s really hard to find anything they do consistently good.
Cunningham has shown promise and looks like he’ll be a solid player, but he’s banged up now, and Jerami Grant returned to the lineup against New Orleans, but had little to no effect on the team.
They’ve actually been decent at covering spreads as they’re 6-4 against the spread their last 10 and 7-3 their last 10 home games so don’t rush to the window to fade Detroit against the spread right now.
Minnesota Timberwolves at Detroit Pistons Prediction
We have some variables for tonight’s game, but I feel pretty confident in Minnesota’s ability to score tonight. They’ve put up 124, 126 and 130 in their last three games and their team total is 118.5 tonight.
It’s a pretty big number, but Minnesota’s offense is humming right now and Detroit’s 22nd worst defensive efficiency ranking makes me excited to invest in the T-Wolves tonight with their team total.
OFFICIAL PLAY: Timberwolves Team Total OVER 118.5
Thursday’s #NBA Betting Notes:
🏀The over is 11-2 in Minnesota’s last 13 games.
🏀Phoenix is 12-6 against the spread as a road favorite this year.
🏀The Clippers are 7-1 ATS in their last eight games vs the Lakers.
🏀The Bulls are 12-2 ATS in their last 14 meetings with Toronto. pic.twitter.com/eip7CIFXUw— GoldSheet (@thegoldsheet) February 3, 2022
Minnesota Timberwolves at Detroit Pistons Preview from GoldSheet
Like the Lions in the recent NFL season, a knee-jerk recommendation against the Pistons is hardly a sure thing, because Dwane Casey’s team has been adept at covering spreads in games it loses outright.
Three times, in fact, within the past two weeks as Detroit has covered five of its last seven despite straight-up wins in only two of those outings.
Now the Pistons areas close to full strength as they’ve been in almost two months, with Jerami Grant finally back in the fold after returning to action Tuesday night vs. the Pels following his thumb injury, and Kelly Olynyk having recently preceding him back into active duty.
Make no mistake, however, Detroit has limitations, as along with New Orleans are the only two teams to rank in the bottom five in effective field goal % and opponent effective field goal %. And prior to Grant’s return, Casey’s starting lineup (Cory Joseph, Cade Cunningham, Hamidou Diallo, Saddiq Bey and Isaiah Stewart) has allowed more than 130 points per 100 possessions across a six-game span.
With the Wolves’ offense hitting on all cylinders the past couple of weeks (123 ppg last seven), this matchup looks just a tad scary for the Pistons.
Good news for Minny was the return of Patrick Beverley (who had missed five straight games with an ankle injury) earlier this week in the Tuesday win over Denver, especially with D’Angelo Russell (shin contusion) likely remaining sidelined a bit longer, but the offense has hardly skilled a beat in recent weeks, even when using Anthony Edwards at the point.
The Wolves should get there tonight, but a bit stronger conviction on the “over” that his connected in eight of nine and eleven of the last thirteen Wolves games.
NBA Stat Sheet
Each day, WagerTalk handicapper Ralph Michaels puts together his NBA Stat Sheet, which offers a head-to-head comparison for how teams are performing in a number of key areas heading into a game. Check out Thursday’s sheet, with notes on tonight’s Minnesota Timberwolves at Detroit Pistons contest.
NBA Tip-Off Show
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NBA Odds Screen
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