The Timberwolves and Mavericks take the court tonight in Minneapolis for Game 5 of the Western Conference Finals thanks to Minnesota’s unexpected second half comeback a couple nights ago in Dallas. With Karl Anthony Townes breaking out of his shooting slump (9 of 13 and 4 of 5 from beyond the arc) and scoring 25 points, there is hope in the Twin Cities. Is a comeback possible? Could the backcourt dubbed by TNT’s Stan Van Gundy as potentially the greatest in the history of the NBA blow a 3-0 series lead in the Western Conference Finals? We are not there yet but tonight offers the Timberwolves an opportunity to pull within 3-2 in the series and really start the Dallas faithful to sweat.
Dallas Mavericks (+160) @ Minnesota Timberwolves (-192)
Spread: Timberwolves -4.5 | O/U: 209.5
Series: Dallas leads 3-1
Bet the Edge is your source for the day in sports betting. Get all of Jay Croucher and Drew Dinsick’s insight weekdays at 6AM ET right here or wherever you get your podcasts.
The boys of Bet the EDGE offered their thoughts and expectations for Game 5 on today’s episode.
Vaughn Dalzell (@VmoneySports) expects points to be at a premium even if KAT continues to make more than he misses.
“I don’t think this series is over by any means. I find it interesting, a little bit of the overreaction to the lines too, because as someone who live bet the last game…I took the First Half OVER in the Minnesota Dallas Game 4…It came through but the adjustment to it now moving from about 98½ to 99½ to 107½, it certainly makes me think that this is probably a First Half UNDER play for me here. I think that possessions definitely will be very pivotal, and you’ll see some of these guys not want to shoot threes as much.”
Drew Dinsick (@whale_capper) believes that Minnesota is live in this series and pointed to the absence of Dereck Lively as a reason to believe in the impossible.
“You definitely felt the absence of Lively. I thought he was a huge difference-maker in the first three games of this series. You know him not being available definitely hurt the Mavericks, particularly their flow on offense.“
The Dallas big man’s availability has been upgraded to questionable for tonight’s Game 5.
Dinsick agrees with Dalzell that this is now a series worth our attention.
“Now as 4.5-point favorites at home in Game 5 you would think that we could very well see a sixth game to this series and as long as Lively is unavailable you have to think that there is a very real chance that the Mavericks still have their toughest test ahead of them to get through to the next round of playoffs.”
Read More: Celtics a Heavy Favorite for the NBA Finals
Dinsick believes the line should be closer to 3.5 and so it is not a play for him, but he has taken the advice of a fellow sharp and grabbed a little of Minnesota to pull off the impossible.
“I’m basically coat-tailing Jay (Croucher) on this series so my thoughts aren’t super original. But you know he talked me into it making a solid case that the Timberwolves were a bet at price and considering they had Games 5 and 7 at home…you were basically taking the coin flip yesterday and trying to turn that into a bigger payout. I think he got 14/1. I think the best I got was like 12/1.”
There is still more pressure on the Wolves than the Mavs tonight, but the pressure quotient is on the rise and that is primarily why the UNDER especially in the first half is a smart look.
Enjoy the game and enjoy a sweat or two.
