Minnesota Timberwolves at Miami Heat - 12/26/22 NBA Picks and Prediction

Miami Heat (16-17) vs Minnesota Timberwolves (16-17)

Game Info: Monday, December 26, 2022 at 7:30 pm (FTX Arena)

Betting Odds: Miami Heat -4.5 -- Over/Under: 223.5 Click Here for the Latest Odds

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The Minnesota Timberwolves and the Miami Heat duke it out at the FTX Arena on Monday night.

The Minnesota Timberwolves have been in a rut as they’ve lost five of their last eight games overall and they will be hoping to snap a two-game skid after falling to the Celtics in a 121-109 road loss on Friday. Anthony Edwards led the team with 30 points, six rebounds and four assists, D’Angelo Russell added 21 points with seven rebounds and 10 assists while Jaden McDaniels chipped in with 17 points. As a team, the Timberwolves shot 48 percent from the field and 10 of 32 from the 3-point line as they got off to a nice start and hung with the Celtics in a tight contest until the fourth quarter where the Celtics went on a decisive 21-4 run to pull away and steal the game in the end.

Meanwhile, the Miami Heat have been in decent shape as they’ve won five of their last eight games overall, but they will be hoping to avoid a third straight defeat after falling just short to the Pacers in a 111-108 loss on Friday. Tyler Herro led the team with 28 points on 10 of 23 shooting, Kyle Lowry added 21 points with five assists while Jimmy Butler scored 20 points on six of 11 shooting. As a team, the Heat shot just 43 percent from the field and 13 of 33 from the 3-point line, but they allowed the Pacers to connect on 21 of 47 from the 3-point line and they just had no answer for the Pacers’ Tyrese Haliburton who scored them for 43 points on 14 of 20 shooting. The Heat rallied back from a 12-point fourth quarter deficit to tie the game with 14.2 seconds remaining, only to see the Pacers steal the game on the following possession.

Looking at the betting trends, the Timberwolves are 1-4 ATS in their last five road games and 2-5 ATS in their last seven games against a team with a losing record. The Heat are 4-16-1 ATS in their last 21 home games, 1-4-1 ATS in their last six games against a team with a losing record and 2-7-1 ATS in their last 10 games overall.

Head to head, the over is 7-2 in the last nine meetings overall, the Timberwolves are 3-1-1 ATS in the last five meetings in Miami and the Timberwolves are 6-2-1 ATS in the last nine meetings overall.

The Timberwolves are going to be shorthanded again as Taurean Prince, Jordan McLaughlin and Kyle Anderson are all out, while the Heat have ruled Bam Adebayo and Jimmy Butler as questionable for this one. The Heat come into this matchup as the team in better form and I’m sure we’ll get a big game from Butler if he is able to suit up against his former team, so I’ll back the Heat to get the job done at home in a close one.

The pick in this article is the opinion of the writer, not a PickDawgz site consensus.

Mitch's Take...

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