- 1 Minnesota Timberwolves vs Utah Jazz: four 20-point wins against a road team missing its bigs
- 2 Minnesota Timberwolves: LaMelo Ball’s 34 and a defense allowing 107.6 without Edwards
- 3 Utah Jazz: no Jackson, no Nurkic, and Markkanen shooting 35.5%
- 4 Free NBA Prediction: Minnesota Timberwolves vs Utah Jazz
- 5 About our free predictions
- 6 No commitment from us
- 7 Information changes
- 8 Your responsibility
- 9 Responsible gambling
- 10 Legal age
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Minnesota Timberwolves vs Utah Jazz: four 20-point wins against a road team missing its bigs 
Four of Minnesota’s five wins this season have come by more than 20 points: 131-106 in Miami, 115-93 in Orlando, 117-94 over Toronto and 127-101 over the Clippers. That spread is the context for Sunday 8 November, 7:00pm ET in Minneapolis, because Utah has been losing by that kind of margin lately.
The Jazz were 1-6 after a 119-97 defeat in San Antonio on Monday, their fifth straight loss. They scored 16 points in the first quarter of that game, a season low, and were outscored 35-20 in the third.
The Timberwolves got to 5-3 without Anthony Edwards for the last four of those games. He had arthroscopic surgery on his right knee and isn’t expected back before late December, and Minnesota has gone 2-2 since, with the Clippers and Milwaukee beaten at home.
Scheduling complicates both teams. Minnesota plays in Houston on Wednesday and New Orleans on Friday before this one. Utah is at New Orleans on Wednesday and Dallas on Friday, so Sunday closes a three-game trip.
The full-season numbers explain why I lean so hard to the home team. Minnesota scores 119.0 points a game and allows 107.6. Utah scores 107.0 and allows 118.9, a net gap of more than 23 points between the two teams before injuries come into it.
Minnesota Timberwolves: LaMelo Ball’s 34 and a defense allowing 107.6 without Edwards 
Edwards was averaging 33.3 points through four games, so the first question after his surgery was who’d take those shots. Ball has answered part of it. He scored 34 against Milwaukee on Monday, a season high, with six threes, and his third made him the fastest player in NBA history to reach 1,000, in 311 games.
Ball played that night despite being listed as questionable with a right wrist contusion. Terrence Shannon Jr., who averages 12.0 points, sat out with a left hip contusion and was questionable again for the Houston game, which leaves the guard rotation one injury away from getting thin. Donte DiVincenzo is out with an Achilles injury and has an estimated return in April.
What’s held this team up is that the scoring is spread evenly behind Ball. Jaden McDaniels averages 16.8 on 52.8% shooting, Ayo Dosunmu 15.8 on 51.5% and Jonathan Kuminga 12.3 while making 44.1% of his threes. Dosunmu added a season-high 12 rebounds against the Bucks, and six Timberwolves reached double figures that night.
Rudy Gobert’s 12.0 rebounds a game carry the interior, and Joan Beringer pulls down 6.9 in just 18.1 minutes behind him. That pairing matters more than usual here, since Utah comes in short of centers.
Monday also showed the floor of this team. Minnesota shot 42.7%, its season low, and still beat Milwaukee 112-100 because the Bucks shot 38.4%. The three losses came by two points in overtime in Cleveland, five at home to Golden State and ten in San Antonio, so nobody has blown the Wolves out yet.
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Utah Jazz: no Jackson, no Nurkic, and Markkanen shooting 35.5% 
Utah’s frontcourt is the reason this team can’t stop the bleeding. Jaren Jackson Jr. tore the MCL in his right knee and is expected to miss six to eight weeks, with an estimated return in mid-December. He’d been giving the Jazz 16.3 points on 50% shooting in 26 minutes.
Jusuf Nurkic is also out with a foot injury, estimated to return around 13 November. Mo Bamba, who has made 81.3% of his shots in a small sample, was questionable this week with a sprained right ankle. If he can’t go, Jaxson Hayes and his 6.6 rebounds are the main option in the middle against Gobert and Beringer.
San Antonio showed on Monday what happens to this group inside. The Spurs won the paint 52-36, the fast-break count 26-9, and shot 60% from the field. Seven of them finished in double figures.
Lauri Markkanen did score 22 with eight rebounds in that game, but his first five appearances brought 15.4 points on 35.5% shooting and 30.8% from three. Keyonte George has been the steadier creator at 21.7 points and 6.3 assists, and he’s the player most likely to keep Utah within reach for a half.
Utah’s young wings are producing in different ways. Ace Bailey has 13.3 points and 7.8 rebounds on 50% shooting, while Darryn Peterson scores 13.3 on 35.9%. The only win came 120-119 over New Orleans on 23 October, and the road record is 0-2, with those defeats by 20 in Memphis and 22 in San Antonio.
Probable lineup Minnesota Timberwolves: Not announced at time of publication
Probable lineup Utah Jazz: Not announced at time of publication
Free NBA Prediction: Minnesota Timberwolves vs Utah Jazz
Our prediction: Minnesota Timberwolves to win by 10 or more points
No lines were available when we filed, and a straight Minnesota win would be too short a price to recommend, so I’d go with the margin. The Timberwolves have already won four games by more than 20, and Utah’s two road defeats came by 20 and 22.
The case against is fatigue. Minnesota plays three games in five nights with Friday’s stop in New Orleans just before this one, and its guards are carrying knocks. Utah’s schedule is no easier, though, since this is its third road game in five nights too.
The deciding factor is the paint. Gobert and Beringer combine for almost 19 rebounds a night, and Utah is without Jackson and Nurkic, with Bamba’s ankle still to be assessed. A team allowing 118.9 points a game, on this injury list and at the end of a trip, shouldn’t stay within single digits in Minneapolis.
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