Both the Los Angeles Lakers and Minnesota Timberwolves will look to conjure up some momentum for themselves in their meeting on Monday night, with the Timberwolves entering as the 7.5-point betting favorites being at home at the Target Center.
Here's a spread, moneyline, total, and player prop expert pick for this Western Conference matchup on December 2, 2024.
Los Angeles Lakers vs. Minnesota Timberwolves Betting Odds
Preview: Los Angeles Lakers vs. Minnesota Timberwolves, 8 p.m. ET
| Team | Spread | Money | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles Lakers | +7.5 (-110) | +250 | O 221.5 (-110) |
| Minnesota Timberwolves | -7.5 (-110) | -310 | U 221.5 (-110) |
Odds as of December 2, 2024 at FanDuel
Los Angeles Lakers vs. Minnesota Timberwolves Expert Picks
Los Angeles Lakers ATS +7.5 (-110)
The aforementioned momentum has been difficult to come by as of late for both teams. The Lakers were gifted a victory on Sunday against the woeful Utah Jazz after Will Hardy called a timeout with 1.6 seconds remaining which negated a potential game-winning layup by Collin Sexton. It was just their second victory in six games coming off a six-game winning streak.
Minnesota hasn't been much better, eking out a 93-92 win over the Los Angeles Clippers on Friday to end a four-game losing streak SU. The victory was also just its third in 10 games, as well.
The obvious advantage here comes from the Timberwolves having not competed over the weekend, while Los Angeles is on the second night of a back-to-back slate, although its 3-0 SU this season on no rest with two wins away from Crypto.com Arena. The Lakers prevailed in their season opener at home versus Minnesota by seven points as the one-point underdog, but the spread is much more one-sided in favor of the Timberwolves this time around, with the 7.5-point margin being Los Angeles' biggest as an underdog thus far.
The smart play here is to wager on the Lakers to cover, although that's been a struggle with just two successful covers in their last five road games. They went 4-1 SU during that stretch, but two of those wins were against the feeble 4-16 Jazz and 4-17 New Orleans Pelicans, while the other two were versus the 11-9 San Antonio Spurs. However, the reason for the optimism here is that Minnesota owns the third-worst ATS record in basketball at 6-13, with a 2-8 ATS record at home with five-straight failed covers.
UNDER 221.5 Total Points (-110)
The Lakers have reached an UNDER in four consecutive road appearances, while the Timberwolves have also gone UNDER in their last two home games. The final score of 110-103 on Oct. 22 is roughly what we should be getting on Monday, and that would fall well short of going OVER on 221.5 total points.
Los Angeles Lakers vs. Minnesota Timberwolves Player Prop
LeBron James UNDER 1.5 Made 3-Pointers (+120)
This is a strong value play, even though LeBron James has a long and storied history of making us regret ever believing a cold streak of his will linger long enough to make bank on.
James has failed to convert a single 3-pointer in each of his last three games, going 0-of-15 from distance. He previously hit 1-of-4 against Minnesota, which would still be an UNDER here, and the Timberwolves rank second in opponent's 3-point attempts (33.9) and third in opponent's makes (11.9).
With Minnesota having also held its last two opponents at home to a combined 21-of-68 shooting from the perimeter (30.8 percent), let's sprinkle a little on an UNDER for James here and pray he doesn't make us look foolish.
Los Angeles Lakers vs. Minnesota Timberwolves Betting Trends
- Rudy Gobert has failed to exceed 2.5 steals + blocks in seven of his last eight games vs. top-10 defenses for steals allowed (0.9 steals + blocks/game average).
- LeBron James has failed to exceed 0.5 blocks in 13 of his last 17 games (0.4 blocks/game average).
- Anthony Davis has failed to exceed 25.5 points in four of his last five games (21.2 points/game average).
*all betting trends courtesy of Outlier
