Minnesota Timberwolves at Los Angeles Lakers Betting Preview

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The Los Angeles Lakers have a forecast 70% chance to win against The Minnesota Timberwolves with a spread of -12.0/12.0 and an over/under of 229.5. The Los Angeles Lakers are 0 - 2 against The Minnesota Timberwolves in the 2021-22 Season.

— Sunday, January 02nd Minnesota Timberwolves @ Los Angeles Lakers

We’ve got quite an interesting matchup on Sunday night between Minnesota and Los Angeles. The Timberwolves, ninth in the Western Conference, take on the Lakers, seventh in the Western Conference.

The Timberwolves are on a two-game losing streak and hope to get back on track against Los Angeles. However, the injury list might be too large for them to overcome tonight.

The Lakers are dealing with their own share of injuries as well, most notably LeBron James. With both James and Davis questionable, the Los Angeles Lakers are thinly stretched.

They are, however, coming off of a big win over the Portland Trail Blazers. If the Lakers want to hold their number seven spot in the conference, they’ll need a win. The question is, can they cover?

Minnesota Timberwolves: D’Angelo Russell ruled out for Sunday

One of the most vital players to the Timberwolves offense won’t be on the court on Sunday. With Russell missing, the Timberwolves come into this game at a distinct disadvantage. Anthony Edwards and Karl-Anthony Towns are also both listed as out.

Towns is their leading scorer, and Edwards provides a lot of versatility. Needless to say, this doesn’t look good for Minnesota.

The only silver lining is that the Lakers are missing a lot of players too. If the Timberwolves can force the Lakers to take shots from outside, this game could be close.

However, three of their best defenders will be sidelined for this game. Leaving players such as Patrick Beverley to pick up the slack. Even with an 8-point spread, we don’t think the Timberwolves stand a chance.

Los Angeles Lakers: The best bench will win this game

This game comes down to who has the best available players. The Lakers have dealt with injuries the entire year, forcing bench players to step it up. We saw that in their last game against the Portland Trail Blazers, a game that they won 139-106.

Now, to be fair, LeBron James did play in that game and put up an incredible 43-point night. His status for today is unknown.

We believe that although the injury list has James as “day-to-day,” he’ll play tonight. We all know that Anthony Davis is out, but that’s not a huge concern.

Since the Lakers don’t have to worry about Karl-Anthony Towns, they should be fine at the center position. Dwight Howard and DeAndre Jordan are more than capable of performing the job required of them.

Our pick for the Minnesota Timberwolves at Los Angeles Lakers

When looking at the Timberwolves performance on the road, you won’t want to take them here. They’re 6-9 on the road this season with an 8-14 record as an underdog.

Their record against the spread, however, is significantly better than the Lakers. However, nearly their entire starting lineup is sidelined, so we can’t trust them to cover here. Even with an 8-point spread.

Instead, we’ll go with the safer bet for the night, the Los Angeles Lakers. Los Angeles will likely still have LeBron James running the show, and they have a stronger bench. We know that the Lakers haven’t been incredible at the sportsbook, but we’ll take them in this one.

DunkelIndex Free Pick: Los Angeles Lakers -8, OVER

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