Rating: 4 units - Regular Play
Pick: Minnesota Timberwolves (-9.5) (Play up to -10)
Odds: -103 / 1.97 on Pinnacle Sports OR -110 / 1.91 on 5Dimes
If the trades are working for Cleveland, the same can't be said about the Lakers, especially due to Nance's absence, who was one of the LA team's top players in terms of net rating during the nice stretch the Lakers had. Without Nance, the Lakers are playing plenty of minutes with Randle and Kuzma on the frontcourt and naturally, they're being crushed at the paint and even a perimeter shooting team like Dallas scored 52 points in the paint against them and last night, the Pelicans scored 62 points in the paint. So, the Wolves' offense will obviously explore will issue as Minnesota's offense relies on the scoring near the basket.
The Lakers raised their pace after the trades, but with IT2 on the team, they committed 17 and 20 turnovers in the last two games. Minnesota's defense has been poor lately, but they are an elite unit in creating turnovers. Minnesota is coming from a home blowout loss against Houston, so they should take advantage of this National TV game to bounce back against the Lakers who has poor chemistry right now and is playing their final game of the road trip, while being also on a back to back spot. I'm taking the Wolves tonight.