The Minnesota Timberwolves and Los Angeles Lakers begin a star-studded series on Saturday.
The pregame narrative: Los Angeles has run roughshod at home this season, and is a good bet to cover a teased-down spread in Game 1. On the prop market, look for Austin Reaves and Anthony Edwards to produce.
Check out my Timberwolves vs. Lakers play-in SGP predictions for April 19.
Timberwolves vs. Lakers predictions
Parlay: Lakers -1.5 | Reaves over 9.5 rebounds/assists | Edwards 3+ threes (+300)
Lakers -1.5 (-167): Rob Pelinka must still be cackling over the fact that he has Luka Doncic on his roster for this playoff run (and for years to come). And no shade to Anthony Davis, but Doncic is just a different type of player.
L.A. is 18-10 with Doncic in the lineup, and some of those games were played without LeBron James.
The squad is 7-3 in the last 10 when Doncic and James are playing, including a win over the West’s top-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder.
Los Angeles also sported a 31-10 record at Crypto.com Arena this season (third-best home record in the NBA), beating Minnesota twice at home.
NBA SGP legs
Reaves over 9.5 rebounds/assists (-103): I don’t think it’s egregious to put Reaves alongside Doncic and James as Los Angeles’ “Big Three” — the fourth-year guard is just that good.
Reaves averaged 20.2 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 5.9 assists this season. He can fill the basket with ease and is constantly looking for other ways to stuff the stat sheet.
And check out what Reaves has done over the last 18 games:
- 5.3 rebounds/game
- 5.7 assists/game
- 10+ rebounds/assists 12 times
Reaves has played the T-Wolves three times this year and cleared this total in each outing. Doncic wasn’t on the squad for two of those games, to be fair, but Reaves did have six rebounds and five assists in the most recent games with everyone in the lineup.
Edwards 3+ threes (-375): Let’s get the ugly out of the way: Edwards is 0-3 against this line vs. the Lakers this year. That said, there are plenty of reasons to believe he’ll step up under the bright postseason lights.
- Edwards averaged the second-most 3-point makes (4.1) and attempts (10.3) this season.
- He hit 3+ threes in 62 of 79 games (78.4%).
Los Angeles held opponents to the 11th-lowest 3-point percentage this season. But Edwards is a volume shooter (and an accurate one, at that) who enters the postseason on an absolute heater.
The shooting guard averaged 4.7 threes in April on 38.8% shooting.
Timberwolves vs. Lakers predictions made at 12:08 p.m. ET 04/18/2025.
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.