The first game of the Play-In Tournament in the Western Conference will pit the Los Angeles Clippers and Minnesota Timberwolves against one another. Minnesota will host this game after exceeding expectations this season, while the Clippers finally have one of their stars back from injury and will look to do some damage. In our NBA predictions for the first night of the Play-In Tournament, we look at Clippers vs Timberwolves in what is expected to be a tight game.
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Clippers vs Timberwolves Betting Pick
This game will be played at Target Center at 9:30 PM ET on Tuesday, April 12, 2022.
Why Bet The Clippers:
✅ The Clippers will have Paul George back for this game, which will help them play like a legitimate contender once again. George was out for the majority of the season, and his return makes the Clippers a much more dangerous offensive team than they were without him, which they will take advantage of against the Timberwolves.
✅ Los Angeles made the Western Conference Finals a season ago with a similar roster makeup, led by George. Comparatively, the Timberwolves have very little playoff experience and are more likely to falter in this spot, even if they have home court advantage in this Play-In Tournament matchup.
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✅ The Clippers have won six of their last seven games against the Timberwolves over the last two seasons. This year, they have won three of four against Minnesota, including the first three games of their season series. Given that most of this season for the Clippers took place without Paul George, things could easily go that well again for the Clippers on Tuesday night.
Los Angeles Clippers
Heading into the Play-In Tournament, the Los Angeles Clippers might be in a better position than they have been all season. They have a healthy Paul George once again, and their trade with the Portland Trail Blazers to bring in Norman Powell and Robert Covington made them a better team than they were prior to the trade deadline. Now, the Clippers will look to pick up a win in the Play-In Tournament to claim the seventh seed in the Western Conference.
In order to beat the Timberwolves, the Clippers will need to figure out how to best defend Karl-Anthony Towns. Towns has the ability to stretch the floor against Ivica Zubac, which could be a real problem for a more paint-oriented center on the defensive end. But the Clippers have more than enough to make up for that mismatch elsewhere, as they have the perimeter shooting to keep up with the pace of the Timberwolves.
Minnesota Timberwolves
The Minnesota Timberwolves had a very nice year this season in the Western Conference, going from having the number one pick in the draft to the playoffs in just a couple of years. Their fast-paced style of play has made them a lot of fun to watch, and the results have come with that fun as the Timberwolves have had a ton of success on the offensive end. Here, they will need to play good defense to beat the Clippers and make it to the first round of the playoffs.
This season, the Timberwolves had the highest scoring offense in the Western Conference this season. But they also had a bottom-five scoring defense in the West, ranking above only teams that failed to make the playoffs in their conference. Given the Clippers’ ability to shoot the three from multiple positions, the Timberwolves will need to step up on defense to avoid being put in a single-elimination situation later this week.