The Minnesota Timberwolves aren’t going down without a fight in their Western Conference Final series with the Dallas Mavericks. Facing a must-win scenario in Game 4, the Wolves lived to see another day and avoided the sweep with a huge road win bring the series back to Minnesota for Game 5 on Thursday, May 30. However, history isn’t on their side since no team has rebounded from losing the first three games to win a best-of-7 NBA Playoffs series. I guess there has to be a first time just like a No. 16 seed beating a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. It took more than 30 years but if finally happened in 2018. And just five years later it happened again. So, I guess anything is possible, but beating a team as good as the Mavs four games in a row is asking a lot.
Minnesota is a good team as well finishing the regular season with six more wins than Dallas and beating the Mavs in three of their four encounters. The Wolves were outplayed in crunch time, though, committing costly turnovers and mistakes that led to a three-game deficit in the series. At the stage of the season with a trip to the NBA Finals on the line, a team’s best players have to step up and the Wolves haven’t gotten that from Anthony Edwards and Karl-Anthony Towns and the Mavs did from Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving.
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NBA Parlay Picks for Thursday, May 30, 2024
Minnesota ATS
Dallas / Minnesota OVER
Bet $100 to win $271
My same game parlay last week didn’t pan out with the Pacers failing to stay within the 9.5-point spread in their 126-110 loss to the Celtics. After losing the opener, 133-128, in overtime when a pair of costly turnovers allowed the Celtics to tie the game in regulation, I expected the Pacers to be fired up for Game 2. Instead the near miss served as a motivator for Boston, which got 40 points from Jaylen Brown and took advantage of Indiana’s Tyrese Haliburton leaving in the third quarter with a hamstring injury.
One thing you can’t account for when betting on any sport is an in-game injury to a star player. I know, basketball is a team sport, blah, blah, blah. But losing a guy like Haliburton, who led the NBA in assists and emerged as a franchise star was costly.
The Mavs’ longest losing streak during the regular season was three games, which happened a few times, so don’t expect them to do it now. However, like I said it can happen. And one thing they didn’t want to do was give Minnesota any kind of hope, which did happen in Game 4. We can talk all day about the exploits on the offensive end of Doncic and Irving, who did their part in the first three games, but Dallas’ defense has been splendid in the postseason allowing more than 110 points just three times.
Luka’s nasty step-back three over Rudy Gobert delivered a Game 2 win and he and Irving each had 33 points in Game 3. You can slow one of them down but rarely can you limit both players and when they’re both on, look out.
Minnesota needed KAT and Edwards to bust out and while they did in Game 4 it’s probably too little too late. But, the Wolves got a much needed injection of confidence with their Game 4 win and will carry that over to their Game 5 home contest. The Target Center hasn’t exactly given the Wolves a homecourt edge since they are just 1-4 SU and ATS in their last five home games, but they were good during the season as one of just five teams to win at least 30 home games during the regular season.
NBA Schedule for Thursday, May 30
Dallas at Minnesota, 8:30 p.m. ET / TNT
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