The Western Conference Finals matchup is set and it should be a good one.
The pregame narrative: The Minnesota Timberwolves overcame a 20-point road deficit in Game 7 to knock off the defending champion Denver Nuggets. They're playing in their first conference final in 20 years. Meanwhile, the Dallas Mavericks eliminated the No. 1-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder in six.
Check out the Mavericks vs. Timberwolves series odds for their Western Conference Finals matchup beginning on May 22.
Mavericks vs. Timberwolves series odds
NBA fans will be getting some fresh blood coming out of the West.
Luka Doncic and Anthony Edwards are two of the game's best young superstars and they've led their teams to the final four.
Minnesota's success has been predicated on strong defence. The team had the best defensive rating during the regular season (108.4) and ranks fourth (107.6) in the playoffs.
The T-Wolves held the Nuggets to a 51.7% effective field goal rate and 106.6 offensive rating last round. The latter was the worst of all eight teams who made it to the quarterfinals and nearly 10 points lower than their regular-season mark (117.2).
| Series betting markets | Odds |
| Timberwolves to win series | -177 |
| Mavericks to win series | +145 |
| Timberwolves -1.5 games | +115 |
| Mavericks +1.5 games | -152 |
| Over 5.5 games | -159 |
| Under 5.5 games | +120 |
Anthony Edwards had a quiet Game 7 but has been brilliant otherwise. He's averaging 28.9 points, 6.2 rebounds and 5.9 assists per game on 50.4% shooting.
The 22-year-old guard will be tasked with out-duelling Doncic, who found his stroke in the closing games against OKC.
Doncic was shooting 40.0% from the field and 26.0% from deep through the first 10 games of the playoffs but put up 29 and 31-point triple-doubles in Games 5 and 6.
He shot 56.8% from the field and 52.9% from deep in those contests.
The Mavericks' defence and rebounding got it over the line, though.
Dallas has held its opponents to the second-lowest field goal percentage (44.0%) and owns the second-best offensive rebounding rate (32.5%) this postseason.
Minnesota is favoured and it's not hard to see why. Taking three road games from the defending champions was no easy task but the team found a way.
The T-Wolves went 30-11 at home during the regular season and have home-court advantage.
Game 1 best bet
Best bet: Gobert under 12.5 points (-112)
Rudy Gobert hit some big shots down the stretch to close out Denver but I'm fading him on Wednesday.
The defensive player of the year isn't known for his scoring touch and has fallen under this mark in five of his last seven games. He's averaging 12.2 points per game this postseason and is only attempting 6.9 shots per game.
The volume isn't there and the Mavericks have been giving up next to nothing in the paint.
Dallas is holding its opponents to 57.3% shooting at the rim, which is the fourth-lowest mark in the playoffs, per Cleaning the Glass.
Gobert has attempted a whopping 86% of his shots at the rim this postseason, which ranks in the 94th percentile of all NBA players.
The Mavericks' one weakness has been beyond the arc — their opponents are shooting 35.9% from deep — and that is not in Gobert's playbook.
He's attempted just three 3-pointers all season.
Picks as of 2:39 p.m. on 05/20/2024.