The Minnesota Timberwolves fought off elimination on Tuesday night to force a Game 5 against the Dallas Mavericks. In Tuesday's game, Anthony Edwards led the way with 29 points and Karl-Anthony Towns finally woke up offensively, scoring 25. Will the Timberwolves pull out another win tonight, or will Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving send the Mavericks to the NBA Finals?
Here are the three best NBA PrizePicks plays for Thursday, May 30.
The Minnesota Timberwolves fought off elimination on Tuesday night to force a Game 5 against the Dallas Mavericks. In Tuesday's game, Anthony Edwards led the way with 29 points and Karl-Anthony Towns finally woke up offensively, scoring 25. Will the Timberwolves pull out another win tonight, or will Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving send the Mavericks to the NBA Finals?
Here are the three best NBA PrizePicks plays for Thursday, May 30.
Towns was a miserable 3-of-22 from deep through the first three games of the Western Conference Finals. Then, on Tuesday night, he got hot and knocked down four of his five attempts from beyond the arc. Based on how Towns has played all season, his performance in Game 4 may be exactly what he needed to turn the tide on his offensive production.
During the regular season, Towns averaged 2.2 made three-pointers per game. He made at least two three-pointers in three of his four games against the Mavericks in the regular season. Towns finally saw the ball go through the basket on Tuesday. This is bad news for the Mavericks and their ability to stop him tonight. After such a performance, it's crazy that this number didn't at least go up to 2.5.
In Tuesday's win, Edwards scored 29 points, pulled down 10 rebounds, and dished out nine assists. It was his second nine-assist performance in a row. What's most impressive about Edwards' recent stretch is that he has scored at least 26 points in both games where he finished with nine assists. That means that even if he shoots more tonight, he should still be able to find ways to get his teammates involved.
Edwards has at least seven assists in all four games of this series. Dating back to the series against the Denver Nuggets, Edwards has at least seven assists in five consecutive games and six of his last seven. He only averaged 5.1 assists per game during the regular season, but that number is meaningless considering what's at stake tonight. Until oddsmakers adjust to how Edwards is playing in the postseason, keep taking his over.
Irving is coming off his worst performance of the series after scoring just 16 points in Tuesday night's loss. Irving is averaging 24.8 points per game in the series, but he has been up and down thus far. He scored 30 in Game 1, then just 20 in Game 2. In Game 3, he scored 33, his second-most of the postseason, but he followed it up with Tuesday's lackluster performance. If he keeps on this trend, then perhaps we should expect him to score at least 30 tonight.
However, the Timberwolves have consistently had one of the best defenses in the league all season. In an elimination game at home, they're going to be tough to get the better of. Irving has struggled with consistency in the postseason, as shown by his failure to top 22 points even once against the Oklahoma City Thunder. If this was set at 20.5, we'd take the over. Anything higher than that and the Under is the right play.
Phil Wood is a featured writer at BettingPros. For more from Phil, check out his archive and follow him @Phil_Wood_Jr.
