Timberwolves vs Thunder Game 5 Picks, Predictions, Player Props & Best Odds

• The Minnesota Timberwolves face elimination in Game 5 against the OKC Thunder
• The Thunder are heavy home favorites to end the series on Wednesday night
• See the Game 5 Timberwolves vs Thunder picks, predictions, player props, and best available odds

The Minnesota Timberwolves (58-38, 28-20 away, 48-48 ATS) find themselves on the brink of elimination in Game 5 of their Western Conference final against the OKC Thunder (79-18, 42-7 home, 58-35-4 ATS) on Wednesday night in Oklahoma City. Game 5 will tip-off at 7:35 pm CT/8:35 pm ET at the Paycom Center and Wednesday’s NBA odds heavily favor OKC ending the series.

MIN Timberwolves vs OKC Thunder Picks

The Thunder ran over Minnesota in both Games 1 and 2 at home and I expect the same script tonight with the chance to end the series. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (29.5 PPG, 5.6 RPG, 6.9 APG postseason) is coming off a 40-point game and the officials aren’t hesitating to put the “free-throw merchant” on the line when he drives. SGA is averaging ten made free-throws per game in the series.

Yes, Minnesota shot horribly in both games in OKC so far: 34.9% in Game 1 (a 114-88 OKC win), and 41.4% in Game 2 (a 118-103 OKC win). But it’s hard to expect too big an improvement from the Wolves in Game 5. OKC finished the regular season with the best D-Rating in the league (106.6) and has maintained that status throughout the playoffs (105.7).

Minnesota should have a big edge on the glass; they finished the regular season top-ten in REB% (50.7%), well ahead of the Thunder in 19th (49.6%). But their top rebounder, Rudy Gobert (8.3 PPG, 8.9 RPG postseason), is too offensively inept to keep on the floor, especially one the Thunder build a lead. He’s averaging just 27.8 minutes per game against OKC, way down from the 33.2 MPG he averaged in the regular season. As a result, OKC won the rebound battle in both Games 1 and 2.

[embedded content]

In addition to OKC to cover, I’m also targeting Anthony Edwards (25.8 PPG, 7.9 RPG, 5.7 APG postseason) to stay under 27.5 points (-120 at DraftKings), a number which is as low as 26.5 at FanDuel. Edwards has shot just 31.3% from three in the series and just 4-of-17 from beyond the arc in Oklahoma City (23.5%). Edwards had just 16 points last time out, the third time in five games he’s been held to 22 or fewer points. He’s averaging 24.0 PPG against the Thunder at 25.8 for the playoffs as a whole. Expecting him to go two full points over that on the road against the best defense in the league – one that’s now seen him four times in the last nine days – is a bridge too far.

MIN vs OKC Player Props for Game 5

NBA props from Caesars on May 28. Download the top NBA betting apps for the NBA playoffs.

After his massive 40-point game on Monday, SGA’s point total has climbed to 32.5 O/U. On the other end of the spectrum, Anthony Edwards has dropped from 28.5 O/U to 27.5 after scoring just 16 points on 5-of-13 shooting in Game 4.

Rudy Gobert has the highest rebound total of the night, once again, at 8.5 O/U. He went over that number in Games 2 and 4 (nine rebounds apiece) but stayed under in Games 1 and 3 (three and seven rebounds, respectively).

Timberwolves vs Thunder Game 5 Odds

The spread is as high as Timberwolves +8.5 (-112) at DraftKings and as low as OKC -8.0 (-115) at Caesars Sportsbooks. Caesars also has the best moneyline price on the Thunder at -355, while FanDuel has the longest odds on a Minnesota victory (+295).

The over/under is 220.5 across the board with only slightly differences in price. Over bettors can get O 220.5 (-110) at BetMGM while under bettors can get U 220.5 (-105) at Caesars.

• SCCG Management. The Gambling Industry’s Global Connector. Access Here.
• Source: https://www.sportsbettingdime.com/news/nba/timberwolves-vs-thunder-game-5-picks-predictions-player-props-best-odds/