Dallas (3-1) at Minnesota (1-3)
When: Thursday, May 30th 2024
Where: Target Center,
Minneapolis, MN
Time: 8:30 ET | TV: TNT
Opening Odds: Minnesota -4/209.5
The Dallas Mavericks remain one win away from reaching the NBA Finals for the first time since the 2010-11 season, when Dirk Nowitzki led them to its first and only NBA Championship. The Minnesota Timberwolves forced Thursday’s Game 5 after avoiding the sweep on Tuesday with a 105-100 road victory and will look to keep the momentum going at home, where they dropped the first two games of this best-of-seven series.
Minnesota is a 4.5-point favorite with a total pegged at 209.5. The odds are still stacked against Minnesota, as no team has won a best-of-seven series after losing the first three games. The Timberwolves are sitting at a robust +1400 to win the NBA Championship, while Dallas is +215 and Boston, who’s sitting at home, is -220. Dallas is still a strong -650 favorite to win this series, with Minnesota at +400.
DALLAS MAVERICKS
Luka Doncic recorded yet another triple-double in Game 4 with 28 points, 15 rebounds and 10 assists but shot 7-of-21 from the field. Kyrie Irving finished with 16 points on 6-for-18 shooting. As a team, the Mavericks shot just 42.0 percent and were 14-of-40 from beyond the arc. The Mavericks hope to get back Dereck Lively II for Game 5. He did not play in Game 4 after Karl-Anthony Towns’ knee hit the back of Lively’s head in Game 3. Maxi Kleber, in his first game since May 3 because of a right shoulder injury, contributed two points and one rebound off the bench.
MINNESOTA TIMBERWOLVES
Speaking of Towns, he finally showed up offensively, scoring 25 points on 9-of-13 shooting. Anthony Edwards led the team with 29 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists. Towns struggled in the first three games of the series, shooting 15-of-54 (27.8 percent) from the field and 3-of-22 (13.6 percent) from beyond the 3-point line. Minnesota shot 52.7 percent from the field and all five starters recorded double-figures in points.
Prediction:
Minnesota is alive and kicking and now have some momentum coming back home. If Towns can duplicate what he did in Game 4, the T’wolves can actually make this a series. I still think Dallas wins the series, but I’ll take Minnesota in Game 5.
Check out who Bobby Babowski has on his Free NBA Picks page for today.
