Orlando Magic vs. Minnesota Timberwolves: Prediction, Preview, Picks & Odds - 2/3/2023

Time: 8 p.m. ET

Venue: Target Center, Minneapolis, MN

Where to watch: BSN, BSFL

DraftKings: Timberwolves -5.5

FanDuel: Timberwolves -5

BetMGM: Timberwolves -5.5

Caesars: Timberwolves -5.5

Magic: 20-32

Timberwolves: 28-26

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Magic: lost 104-95 at 76ers

Timberwolves: won 119-114 (OT) vs. Warriors

It was absolutely expected for the Orlando Magic to fall to the Philadelphia 76ers the other night considering the fact that they had just beaten them the other night and you never actually fully consider taking a team at a home and home and back-to-back. So it's another bit of growing pains for Orlando, and they are in for what should be a very interesting game on Friday when they had to Target Center to take on the Minnesota Timberwolves fresh off another thrilling victory the other day over the Golden State Warriors.

 

After winning 119-109 on January 30th, Orlando responded two days later with a rather dud of a loss, losing 105-94 on Wednesday. Orlando struggled heavily shooting the ball at just 37.9% and no one had a good shooting game outside of Markelle Fultz who had 18 points on 7 of 11 shooting. Paolo Banchero had just 13 points on five of 18 shooting in one of his worst games of his rookie campaign, and that was pretty much it.

 

“I really think it’s a belief system,” coach Jamahl Mosley said. “Having them know that on any given night anything can happen. If you play hard, you give yourself a chance."

 

But we can't talk about Orlando struggling on offense without giving some props to sort of slowing down Philadelphia and holding the 76ers to just 43.6% shooting. Sure, Joel embid had 28 points and 11 rebounds, very typical and very MVP of him. Tobias Harris also shot seven or ten from the floor for 16 points, and James Harden had 26 points on 7 of 13 shooting while dishing out 10 assists and falling one rebound shy of a triple double.

 

Other than that, Philadelphia really didn't have much going for itself offensively but did more than enough to win the game. The Magic are coming into this game having covered four of its last six games but failed to do so in two of the last three. Orlando was getting 10 points against Philadelphia but failed to cover by one, and they got 2.5 against Chicago but lost by 19. Other than that, things are gravy for Orlando.

 

As for the Timberwolves, they have won four of their last five and almost every game has either been a nail biter or fairly high scoring. Minnesota is coming off a 119-114 victory over the Golden State Warriors in which they were 5.5-point underdogs in this game.

 

D'Angelo Russell scored a team high 29 points against his former team, going seven of 17 from 3 point range in honor of his former splash brothers. Anthony Edwards had 27 points but shot 10 of 26 to get there while going just two of 11 from 3 point range, but it was Naz Reid with 24 points and 13 rebounds in place of the injured Rudy Gobert.

 

“I just think as a group, we did it collectively,” Russell said. “It was just a balanced game from our group. Everybody pitched in.”

 

Minnesota is starting to turn it around at the right time with six wins in the last eight games. Keep in mind both of those losses were a home and home against Houston in Houston in which Minnesota lost, and then losing in overtime in the second game of a two game home series against Sacramento. Other than that, Minnesota has been able to take care of business at the right time and if they get healthy and continue to play like this, no one in the wide open Western Conference will want to play them.

 

I do expect a bounce back effort from Orlando considering they are a young team that has a lot of grit to them, but Minnesota at home as it continues this homestand has looked very good and if they can start getting comfortable in front of the home crowd, things are going to start to look very much upward for the Timberwolves. Timberwolves 116, Magic 108

Magic is 13-8 ATS after losing 2 of 3 this season.

Magic is 11-2 ATS after playing 2 consecutive road games this season.

Timberwolves are 7-18 ATS against Southeast Division opponents the last 3 seasons.

Timberwolves are 16-12 ATS after a home game this season.

PG: Markelle Fultz

SG: Gary Harris

SF: Franz Wagner

PF: Paolo Banchero

C: Wendell Carter Jr.

PG: D'Angelo Russell

SG: Anthony Edwards

SF: Jaden McDaniels

PF: Kyle Anderson

C: Rudy Gobert

Injury report

Magic: Jonathan Isaac (knee, probable)

Timberwolves: Rudy Gobert (groin, questionable), Karl-Anthony Towns (calf, out)

Points: Paolo Banchero -- 20.5

Rebounds: Wendell Carter Jr. -- 8.7

Assists: Markelle Fultz -- 5.6

Points: Anthony Edwards -- 24.9

Rebounds: Rudy Gobert -- 11.8

Assists: D'Angelo Russell -- 6.2