San Antonio Spurs vs Minnesota Timberwolves Prediction: Wolves to pick up second h2h win

The NBA season has just begun, and San Antonio and Minnesota will play their 3rd face-off of the regular season. So far, the Spurs and Timberwolves are tied — who will get their second win?

The Spurs have four wins in their six starting regular season games, but now the club's success has gone by the wayside. San Antonio found itself amidst a scandal surrounding Josh Primo, who was waived from the team, although the Spurs had recently extended the contract of the 19-year-old guard. Newcomer Blake Wesley filled Primo's spot in the rotation and his NBA debut was successful: 10 points and 4 assists in just 15 minutes on the floor. Josh Richardson and Doug McDermott, an experienced player, have played a major role on the team, but the Spurs have relied on their young roster. Keldon Johnson is slowly becoming the star of the league, averaging 23.7 points and over 3.7 three-pointers. Devin Vassell isn't far behind Johnson, but he won't play against Minnesota due to injury and Richardson's participation is questionable.

Despite Vassell's absence, Gregg Popovich's team defeated Chicago, 129-124, at home last year in the regular season. The Spurs made things difficult for themselves by losing the home court battle and committing more than 20 turnovers, but thanks to their higher efficiency on offense San Antonio made up for their shortcomings. The Spurs again combined well and dished out 37 assists, 8 of them to Tre Jones. Jeremy Sochan again proved his mettle, Jakob Poeltl made 10 of 12 shots from the field and Keldon Johnson made 6 three-pointers and was the hero of the game with his 33 points.

The Timberwolves also picked up 4 wins in their 6 starts in the regular season, though with such an easy calendar they could have hoped for more. The Wolves managed to lose to San Antonio and Utah, who were not initially considered playoff contenders. Anthony Edwards is slowly getting used to and playing with two centers, and he has scored 29+ points in 4 of 6 games. Karl-Anthony Towns is slowly gaining form, Jaylen Nowell and Jaden McDaniels are enjoying their progress, and Taurean Prince is doing very well off the bench. Kyle Anderson is on the injured reserve, and Jordan McLaughlin, who was subbed in for Bryn Forbes and Austin Rivers in last week's game, may not play.

The day before, Chris Finch's squad had a solid 111-102 home win over the Los Angeles Lakers. Towns, Gobert and Edwards combined for 72 points, with the French center adding 21 rebounds to his 22 points. By the way, Gobert almost single-handedly won the rebounding battle for Minnesota, as well as Nowell and Towns. The Timberwolves lost the ball much less frequently and that was probably the key factor. The Wolves simply completed more shots on offense but their execution was roughly equal.

The Spurs won 4 of their last 5 games. If we look at the trend, San Antonio's win in overtime for 2.88 as offered by 1xbet seems interesting.

The Spurs have conceded more than 110 points in 3 of the last 5 games, so maybe we should try Minnesota's ITO 120.5 points for 1.80 at Betway.

The last face-offs between Minnesota and San Antonio have been dynamic. Minnesota lost the first game in the current regular season due to poor execution of open shots, but in the return one, the Timberwolves made up for it. The Spurs are weakened by Vassell's injury and Richardson's possible absence only exacerbates the situation. Last but not least, the Spurs depend on their three-point shooting; without their two sharpshooters it will be difficult to count on anything against a clear playoff contender. Our prediction for the game is as follows:

• H2 (-4.5) for 1.76;
• TO (235.5) for 1.65;
• W2+TO (239.5) for 2.75.

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