Los Angeles Lakers vs Minnesota Timberwolves Prediction & Betting Tips - NBA

Prediction published on 10/04/2023, 11:05  by Joseph King | Modified on 10/04/2023 at 12:06 in NBA Predictions

The first of the Western Conference play-in games sees the seventh-place Los Angeles Lakers taking on the eighth-place Minnesota Timberwolves at the Crypto.com Arena in downtown LA. The winner of this game will secure themselves the seventh-seed and a meeting with the Memphis Grizzlies in the first round of the 2023 NBA Playoffs. The loser will have to play the winner of the 9th vs 10th seed game to determine who claims the eighth and final playoff spot. Los Angeles comes into this game in fine form with an 8-2 run in the final 10 games to end the regular season and shoot up the standings. LA closed out the regular season with a 128-117 win over the Utah Jazz meaning they come into this game riding a two game winning streak. A strong finish to the regular season means the Lakers finish four games above .500 after previously looking like they might miss out on the play-in tournament altogether. 

On the other side, the Timberwolves come into this one riding a winning streak of their own after closing out the regular season with three straight victories. Minnesota’s last game ended in a 113-108 win over the New Orleans Pelicans in what was essentially a one game playoff to determine which team got the eighth-seed. Having the eighth-seed is a significant advantage because even if Minnesota should lose this game, they’ll still have a shot at making the playoffs by beating the winner of the Pels vs Thunder in the next game. The TWolves will have to play this game away from home but they haven’t seen a huge difference in their home vs away results this season. Minnesota finished the year three games above .500 at home and only one game below .500 as the visiting team. Having won seven of their last 10 games, the Timberwolves will be confident of coming away from Tinseltown with a victory and the seventh-seed.