Despite Foul & Turnover Issues, Timberwolves May Win Series

• Lack of ability to finish halves has been hurting the Minnesota Timberwolves even after dominating in the first and third quarters.
• If The Timberwolves stop beating themselves, their +400 betting odds to beat the Grizzlies could offer great payouts.

MINNEAPOLIS – The Minnesota Timberwolves host the Memphis Grizzlies for Game 6 of their best of seven series tonight. Through five games the Grizzlies lead the series 3-2, but games have been so back and forth that oddsmakers have indicated that Game 6 may be a close one.

Team	Spread	Odds	Total
Memphis Grizzlies	-1.5 (-110)	-120	O229.0 (-110)
Minnesota Timberwolves	+1.5 (-110)	EVEN	U229.0 (-110)

Minnesota Needs To Keep Their Composure To Keep Their Season Alive

The Memphis Grizzlies may be up in this series, but a look at each team’s playoff statistics and it becomes apparent that they may only be winning because the Timberwolves continue to crumble.

A look at each team’s points per quarter per game in this indicates that the Timberwolves have been the better team when they are given direction from their coaches.

Teams have time to plan before games, hence the Timberwolves’ first-quarter dominance, and then teams make adjustments at halftime, hence the Timberwolves’ third-quarter dominance.

Quarter	Minnesota Timberwolves	Memphis Grizzlies
First	35.2	28.6
Second	20.8	26.4
Third	31	28.2
Fourth	22.8	31.6

If the Timberwolves can find a way to maintain their excellence for all four quarters, it’s possible that legal online sportsbooks should have the Timberwolves, not the Grizzlies favored.

Fouls And Turnovers Are The Key For Game 6

Outside of their lack of quarter-to-quarter consistency, the Timberwolves have two obvious areas to focus improve upon: fouls and turnovers.

Of all the teams in the NBA playoffs (all 16 teams that actually made), the Timberwolves rank dead last by a significant margin in both turnovers and personal fouls per game.

The Timberwolves have committed 19 turnovers per game in the postseason, the Atlanta Hawks were next closest with 16.4. Minnesota has been committing an average of 28 fouls per game, which is three more than the second-to-last ranked Denver Nuggets who averaged 25.

It’s not as if the Timberwolves don’t have the ability to beat the Grizzlies, they are just beating themselves.

NBA sportsbooks have given the Timberwolves +400 odds to win this series, and if they stop beating themselves that could lead to some big-time payouts.