NBA Picks and Betting Tips: Toronto Raptors vs Minnesota Timberwolves Prediction, 22nd November

NLB Staff

21.11.2024 10:17

Raptors vs Timberwolves Prediction

With this Toronto Raptors roster still missing several key pieces in this lineup, they will play a Minnesota Timberwolves squad that has recently just gotten on a hot streak with their offseason roster moves. As Toronto won surprisingly against Indiana by 12 points during their previous game, Minnesota defeated Phoenix 120-117 in their last matchup. This game will take place on November 22nd at 6:00 A.M. IST in Scotiabank Arena of Toronto. Underneath are our betting tips, top player props, betting insights, and vital injuries to create a potential outcome for this matchup.

Raptors vs Timberwolves Key Betting Tips & Predictions

1. Toronto Raptors vs Minnesota Timberwolves Moneyline Pick

Seeing that the Timberwolves have a -479 money line, this pick should easily be taken. With the ability of Anthony Edwards and Mike Conley to outplay a backcourt of Davion Mitchell plus Gradey Dick. As Jaden McDaniels has a two-way advantage against someone like Ochai Agbaji, the Timberwolves frontcourt should dominate as well. Having better scorers and rebounders in Rudy Gobert plus Julius Randle, they should be able to handle Jakob Poeltl and R.J. Barrett pretty easily. Therefore, the -479 money line looks perfect and should help Minnesota win their 3rd straight vs Toronto.

2. Toronto Raptors vs Minnesota Timberwolves Point Spread Pick

As the Minnesota Timberwolves have a -9.5 spread in this game, they should easily dominate as the way better all-around roster. With Mike Conley at point guard, his defensive and passing prowess should dominate the game of Davion Mitchell’s. As Mitchell is more of a guy who can just provide shots for others, the ability of Conley to create steals is going to create a huge advantage as Anthony Edwards stands right next to him. Seeing Edwards is one of the best two-way guards in league play, his attack plus perimeter shooting should easily control a weaker defense of Gradey Dick’s. As the Raptors' shooting guard can really have the strength of scoring, it will be slowed down by a great ability of Edward's body control to force him into bad shots. With Jaden McDaniels playing small forward, his prowess as a three-point shooter should continue against Ochai Agbaji’s weak defense while he should provide a lot of turnovers on the other end. Someone who is really known for steals, McDaniels length will let him reach in easier while also creating a lot of traps in this system. With Julius Randle’s offensive prowess as a power forward, his greatness of scoring from everywhere can beat R.J. Barrett’s defense. Although Randle has problems on defense most of the time, Barrett should still score a lot but not at the rate of the Timberwolves' power forward. Seeing that Rudy Gobert is at center, he should be able to control rebounding and put-backs against Jakob Poeltl, helping the Timberwolves win their -9.5 spread.

3. Toronto Raptors vs Minnesota Timberwolves Over/Under Pick (Total Points)

With the over/under in this game being at 219 points, it will be a game controlled on the offensive end by Minnesota with this Raptors squad trying to chip in a bit. As Toronto has a solid passing point guard, their backcourt also has a young SG who can score at multiple levels of the court. Having a center who can put in a high volume of layups, this squad should get most of its offensive production from their all-around scoring power forward. Meanwhile, Minnesota continues being one of the most complete rosters with their extremely efficient shooting guard and solid three-point shooting point guard. As their wings are great scorers as well, their center has a great ability to use his length for put-back dunks. Having more forwards off the bench that can knock down perimeter shots, this game should be higher than their 213 combined points from last time out.

Toronto Raptors vs Minnesota Timberwolves Top Player Props

Gradey Dick under 19.5 points at 1.87: As the Raptors shooting guard has been on a cold streak over last couple games, he will have a tough task of scoring against Anthony Edwards. Seeing that he will probably get doubled with Mike Conley coming over to create a trap, this young star will have fewer opportunities to drive in and not too many good looks when trying jumpers. With Gradey Dick averaging 18.7 points a night, he will be under that average in this matchup.

Anthony Edwards over 26.5 points at 1.95: With the Timberwolves superstar continuing to show his all-around shooting prowess, he should be able to knock down threes and inside shots with ease. Going up against a weaker defender like Gradey Dick, Edwards should keep driving into the lanes and create space for perfect looks from outside. Someone who puts up 28.1 points a night, Anthony Edwards should be able to hit the over in this game once again.

Toronto Raptors vs Minnesota Timberwolves Injury News & Impact

Toronto Raptors Injuries: With this Toronto Raptors squad missing Scottie Barnes, 19.3 points and 7.8 rebounds, their depth at small forward is still really thin with Bruce Brown out for a long period due to his knee injury as well. As Ja’Kobe Walter, 2.8 rebounds, and Immanuel Quickley, 15.3 points plus 4.0 assists, are ruled out due to shoulder plus elbow injuries, respectively, there won’t be much scoring depth at guard positions outside Gradey Dick. Having a depth piece and leader in Kelly Olynk still out due to a back issue, the power forward position will again require R.J. Barrett to play a huge load of minutes.

Minnesota Timberwolves Injuries: As the Timberwolves currently don’t have any injuries, they should continue growing with the same rotations as a team under head coach Chris Finch.

Raptors vs Timberwolves Head-to-Head Trends

As the Timberwolves have started taking over this matchup recently, they have won 2 straight games against Toronto convincingly. With both victories ending being over a 10-point differential, this Minnesota squad should score a lot again after putting up a total of over 100 five times in six previous matches. Seeing that this Minnesota squad is 3-2 against the spread vs Toronto over their past five games, they should continue improving their record in this matchup.

Betting Insights & Public Trends

Looking at the current betting insights, the Minnesota Timberwolves are projected to win this game by 82.7% of bettors against Toronto.

Raptors vs Timberwolves Final Prediction

As the Minnesota Timberwolves have lately figured out how they be a great two-way team led by Chris Finch, this matchup against Toronto should be a pretty easy win for them. With this unit having more high-level players who are healthy all over the court, their point guard will once again be Mike Conley. Although he hasn’t shown the same scoring efficiency as years prior, this guard’s ability to create chances for others and play defense is going to be key. Seeing that he gets to go up against Davion Mitchell, he should affect the Raptors point guard's main ability of assists by stepping into passing lanes. With Conley being someone who has shown immense ability to create steals, he will completely take out Mitchell from this game and should be able to fire away quick threes as well, being the faster guard. Although Gradey Dick has been on a very strong role for this Raptors team early on, his challenge against Anthony Edwards will make him way less efficient. Seeing that Edwards holds his end on defense and uses strength to force other shooting guards into bad shots, he will cause Toronto’s to shoot a lot more deeper threes with a hand in the face. Even though Gradey Dick can still make some of those phenomenal perimeter shots, the amount he makes in this game isn’t even close to Edward's ability on offense. Seeing that Memphis’s shooting guard has continued being very efficient from long-range, he will use his size to drive and create floaters or fade-away mid-range shots as well.

With Jaden McDaniels being a great defensive small forward that can knock down open threes too, he should really be able to handle Ochai Agbaji. With the Raptors' small forward showing growth as someone who can drive into the lane, McDaniels will be with him every step of the way and either create blocks or force him to shoot at a weird angle. Being someone who can also get blocks, McDaniels ability to get down the floor in transition will allow him to take highly efficient perimeter shots that Agabji struggles to defend. Having Julius Randle as a power forward, he should provide a lot of great mid-range shots and inside scoring against his former Knicks teammate R.J. Barrett. As Barrett does have defensive abilities, Randle’s size advantage inside will cause the Raptors' power forward to not be as impactful. While the Raptors power forward should score against Julius Randle, he has shown less-high-volume shooting and could be impacted with an elite defender like Rudy Gobert switching over. Knowing that Gobert has more length than Jakob Poeltl, he should win the rebounding battle inside while also creating a lot of blocks on a center that can only make layups. All in all, the Timberwolves bench pieces like Donte Divencezio and Naz Reid make them even stronger, but Toronto can keep it close if they get production out of guys like Jamal Shead plus Chris Boucher.

Our prediction: Minnesota Timberwolves win this game and cover -9.5 spread, while the score goes over 219 points.