NBA Betting Trends – Utah Jazz at Minnesota Timberwolves
The Minnesota Timberwolves (4-15 SU, 6-13 ATS) begin life with a new coach – who’s kind of the same as the old coach – as they play host to the Utah Jazz (13-9 SU, 12-10 ATS) in NBA pro basketball sports betting action that is slated to get underway at 8 PM ET at the Target Center in Minneapolis.
BetUS NBA Basketball Sports Betting Odds: UTAH -4.5, Total 197
Here are some of the NBA pro basketball online betting trends as they relate to this matchup:
* UTAH has covered five of its last seven games
* UTAH has played four of its last five games UNDER the total
* UTAH has lost five of its last seven road games SU
* UTAH has played five of its last six road games OVER the total
* MINN has lost its last five games SU
* MINN has lost its last seven games ATS
* MINN has covered one of its last six home games
* MINN has lost seven of its last eight home games SU
Also…
* UTAH has won eight of the last 11 meetings SU
* Four of the last five meetings have gone OVER the total
* MINN has won six of the last nine meetings SU as the home team
* Four of the last five meetings in Minneapolis have gone OVER the total
* UTAH has had the shooting edge in each of the last seven meetings
* UTAH has had the rebounding edge in six of its last seven meetings
* MINN has made more three-pointers in four of the last five meetings
The Timberwolves were not showing any progress, apparently. They had lost their last five games, each of them by nine points or more. In the last four games they have shot less than 41%, while allowing the opposition to shoot 46% or more in each of those four contests. In fact, in the last seven games, the Wolves have yielded 50% or greater from the field four times. And on Saturday night it was the straw that broke the camel’s back, as Minnesota dragged themselves around the court in a non-effort against the Clippers, losing at home by 24 points.
So on Monday, owner Glen Taylor took the decision-making authority away from director fo basketball operations Kevin McHale and asked him to replace coach Randy Wittman. This is not the first go-around for McHale sitting on the bench. Back in 2005, he fashioned a 19-12 record as the interim coach. But that was before he had pulled off the big deal that sent Kevin Garnett to Boston and totally re-shaped his team. It would Taylor is now looking for McHale to walk the walk with the team he put together. And he won’t be going back to the front office. Let’s see how he does.
Carolos Boozer (quadriceps injury) is likely not going to be available for the game in Minneapolis, but should return Thursday night against Portland. In his place, Paul Millsap isn’t doing too badly, given more of an opportunity to play, as he’s pulled down 8.2 rebounds per game. But he is obviously not the kind of offensive player who is going to be putting a lot of pressure on the T-Wolves’ front line. Deron Williams is back to playing full-time, so there’s no excuse for him to be hitting less than 42% from the field. He does, however, have 20 assists and three turnovers in his last two games.
Teams often show a little intensity after a coaching change. With Taylor basically pushing McHale halfway out the door, this is a real shakeup. Technical trends point us to Minnesota here; the Wolves won both meetings at the Target Center last season, and the home team has covered seven of the last eight meetings. With a shot of adrenaline, if only temporary, we’ll take the points with the T-Wolves, the 4.5-point underdog in the BetUS NBA pro basketball sports betting odds.
