Minnesota Timberwolves vs Denver Nuggets Predictions Game 5

Anthony Edwards put the team on his back in Game 4 with 44 points, but the Minnesota Timberwolves crumbled under the pressure and lost for the 2nd consecutive home game. Now that home court advantage is no longer theirs, they have a mountain to climb going into Denver with 2 of the next 3 games being played at Ball Arena. Karl-Anthony Towns had a horror game with just 13 points and 12 rebounds on 5-for-18 shooting, at this level performances like that will get punished. We also didn’t saw the Minnesota defense we’re accustomed to seeing, Denver shot a series high 57% from the field on Sunday. Minnesota is now a 4.5-point underdog in Game 5, they’ve covered the spread in 5 of 6 road games and in 4 of their last 5 visits to Denver.

Nikola Jokic once again silenced his critics and showed us why he is now a 3-time MVP. The Joker led the Nuggets with 35 points, 7 rebounds and 7 assists in the 8 point win over the weekend. He also made some timely baskets when the team needed it the most and now the defending champs are in the driver’s seat. Aaron Gordon was a spectacular 11-for-12 from the field, while Jamal Murray added 19 to go along with his 8 assists. All the 50-50 plays went Denver’s way on Sunday, you never had the feeling they would let the Timberwolves go up 3-1 even when they were down by 7 points to start the game. The Nuggets now have to defend home court. They went 36-10 SU in home games so far this season, momentum is on their side following the two wins in Minnesota

Game 5 is a pivotal one, because teams that win it advance to the next series 82% of the time. Playing at home will provide another boost for the already flying Nuggets here, Minnesota cannot stay competitive with just one guy pulling all the strings for them. I’ll stick with the defending champions and back them to cover.

Nuggets -4.5 Point Spread is available at -110 odds

The signature defense of the Minnesota Timberwolves was nowhere to be found in the last two games. Denver completely dominated, while also pushing the pace which isn’t something we’re accustomed to seeing from them. With that formula giving results, I see no reason why they should shy away from it. The projected total has remained at 205.5 points, we went over that number fairly easily in both games played at Target Center. Both teams are connecting well from three-point territory, we’ve seen at least 10 threes by both sides in the last couple of games in this series. Anthony Edwards’ dominated in the first two games at Ball Arena with an average of 35 points per game, he could be in line for another huge game after his breakout performance in Game 4. The Nuggets will live with that, as long as they shut down other threats like KAT or Mike Conley. With the two teams averaging 212.1 points per game in their last 10 meetings, I’m expecting the final score to be in the high 200s here, which should land us over the total. Back the points.

Over 205.5 Total Points is available at -110 odds

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