The Minnesota Timberwolves host a shorthanded Los Angeles Lakers team on Friday the 13th.
The pregame narrative: LeBron James is sidelined, which is a scary prospect for Los Angeles’ chances of winning. I expect Anthony Edwards to cook from beyond the arc and like Austin Reaves to stuff the stat sheet if he can play.
Check out my Lakers vs. Timberwolves prop picks for Dec. 13.
Lakers vs. Timberwolves prop picks
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Best Bet: Edwards over 3.5 threes (-150)
This is a steep but fair price to pay given the player and circumstances.
Edwards has been one of the league’s best 3-point shooters this year. He’s averaging 4.5 threes per game on 10.5 attempts, which ranks second and fourth among all players.
You rarely find a player with that type of volume and accuracy from deep, and that partially explains why Edwards is -143 to clear this number
He’s gone over this mark in 18 of 23 games (78.2%), which far exceeds the 58.9% implied probability of this wager.
And it’s not like Los Angeles is a great team at defending the arc.
The Lakers allow the seventh-most 3-pointers per game (14.0) at the fifth-highest rate (37.2%).
Edwards went 1-for-5 from deep against the Lakers in a blowout win earlier this month but also went 5-for-13 against them on opening night.
Key stat: Edwards has cleared this 3-point total in five of his last six games.
Quick pick
Reaves over 20.5 points and assists (-120): Reaves hasn’t played since Nov. 29 and is listed as questionable as of Friday’s 10:30 a.m. ET injury report.
But if he does suit up, I like his chances of smashing this number.
Los Angeles’ shooting guard is averaging a career-best 16.7 points per game and 4.5 assists (21.2 PA).
But those numbers went way up last year when LeBron was sidelined:
- Reaves averaged 19.5 points and 5.2 assists (24.7 PA) in 11 games without LeBron in 2023-24.
- He was 8-3 against this number in those games.
He should have a big role as a scorer and facilitator tonight.
Picks made at 10:22 a.m. ET 12/13/2024.
Avery joined NorthStar Gaming as an intern in 2022 before stepping into a full-time role soon after. He loves betting on and analyzing golf — mainly because it’s easier than actually playing — but is a fan of all sports, from the NFL to the UFC.