Minnesota Timberwolves vs Portland Trail Blazers Prediction: Can the Blazers recover their ways against slumping Wolves?

The NBA Regular Season is a topsy-turvy cocktail that shakes the very mind of the viewers to its core. The trouble is that each team plays 82 games and thus, the ups and downs are spread across 30 teams and are too difficult to keep track of. The picture changes within a day and you never know if a loss and a win can trigger a chain reaction. In another NBA affair, the Minnesota Timberwolves are going to host the Portland Trail Blazers.

The Timberwolves pulled off an unlikely triumph and defeated the Nuggets 124:111 as Anthony Edwards scooped up 29 points and 10 rebounds. This loss curtailed a six-game losing streak and the team won at home after losing twice there in a row. Without Anthony-Towns, this has been an abysmal season thus far for the Timberwolves which has 21 losses and 17 wins. With Anthony-Towns out, Anthony Edwards has been the only dependable scorer as D’Angelo Russell’s production has taken an untimely dip although lately, he has done much better than early season. Will there be aggressive trades coming soon for the Wolves?

The Trail Blazers come into this game after an expected win as they dusted off the Detroit Pistons with a scoreline of 135:106 behind Jerami Grant’s 36 points night. This was the second win in three games but the team has lost five out of eight games. Portland has somehow managed to be two games over the 50% win. The Trail Blazers need to win more against 50%+ win teams. The Trail Blazers have received a boost from Damian Lillard as usual but the inclusions of Jerami Grant and Josh Hart have bolstered the unit. Anfernee Simons has also grown as a player and things are looking promising in long-term. 

• Timberwolves: OUT: Karl Anthony-Towns, Jordan McLaughlin. QUESTIONABLE: Naz Reid, Taurean Prince;
• Trail Blazers: OUT: Nasir Little, Justise Winslow. QUESTIONABLE: Gary Payton II. PROBABLE: Jusuf Nurkic.

• Expected Leading Scorers: Damian Lillard(30-36 Points), Anthony Edwards(25-31 Points);
• Expected Leading Rebounders: Rudy Gobert(10-13 Rebounds), Josh Hart(8-11 Rebounds);
• Expected Leading Playmakers: Damian Lillard(7-9 Assists), Kyle Anderson(5-8 Assists).

The Trail Blazers can put on an offensive show but their defense gets loose during crucial junctures, something which has occurred frequently lately. As for the Timberwolves, they have been struggling on both ends and are now overly dependent upon Anthony Edwards. The Trail Blazers have more scoring depth but they don’t look like “obvious favorites”. Still, I’d side with Portland to win this and predict a scoreline of 124:118 in their favor.