NBA PrizePicks Player Predictions: Wednesday (Mavericks vs. Timberwolves)
What a way to kick off the Conference Finals! The Celtics made things messy, per usual, and relinquished their lead, only to have Jaylen Brown tie it with an off-balance three to send it to overtime where they would ultimately eke out a win. Let’s see if we get that sort of opener with Dallas heading to Minnesota for Game 1. The playoff PrizePicks record moved to 26-13 after Friday’s 2-1 result. Let’s keep the winning up for Wednesday, May 22.
Friday’s Best NBA PrizePicks Player Predictions
PrizePicks record: 137-92-1
Rudy Gobert More Than 25.5 Points+Rebounds
Rudy can breathe a little easier in this series not having to deal with Nikola Jokic. Daniel Gafford and Derek Lively are solid, but Gobert can have his way with them a little more. He put up 35 and 36 points+rebounds in his past two matchups with Gafford, albeit that was when he was on the Wizards. He put up 30 and 20 points+rebounds in his two matchups with Lively this season as well.
Mike Conley Less Than 21.5 Points+Rebounds+Assists
The Timberwolves veteran point guard is dealing with an ankle injury right now. He will have had just two days to recover following Game 7’s bloodbath. It’s not very clear how the rotations will match up, but it’s hard to think Conley will be out there for another 39 minutes the way he was this past game. The Mavericks were the 10th-best defense against pick-and-roll ball handlers this season, so let’s ride with the under here.
Kyrie Irving More Than 21.5 Points
Luka is bound to get blitzed with double-teamed in this one. The Timberwolves don’t have the one-on-one matchup for him, which should leave Kyrie with significantly better looks in this one. In his lone matchup with Minnesota this season, he put up 35 points on 14-27 shooting.
Tyler Gentile is a featured writer at BettingPros. For more from Tyler, follow him @808Paperboi.