Minnesota takes on LA Lakers and will both be gunning for a victory on 12/27/2020 at 10:00 PM when they meet in a game matchup.
MINNESOTA vs LA LAKERS
When: 12/27/2020 10:00 PM
Where:
| ROT | TEAM | PS | OU | ML |
| 540 | MINNESOTA | -11 (-110) | 226 (-110) | 450 -650 |
| 540 | LA LAKERS |
TV: 10:00 PM
LINE: -11
PREDICTION: LA LAKERS , MINNESOTA
Oddsmakers currently have the LA LAKERS listed as -11 point favorites versus the MINNESOTA, while the game’s total is sitting at 226.
| Tony’s Pick | TEAM |
| MINNESOTA | 450 |
Looking more like the champions they are, the Los Angeles Lakers are back on track after a Christmas Day victory and are set to play host to the Minnesota Timberwolves on Sunday.
The Lakers took care of the Dallas Mavericks with ease Friday, three days after they opened the season with a loss to the Los Angeles Clippers.
The champs hope a familiar pattern from last season emerges when they also fell to the Clippers in the opener, but then went on to win seven consecutive games and 17 of 18.
The Timberwolves will be playing their first back-to-back of the young season after earning a 116-111 victory on the road to the Utah Jazz on Saturday night.
The Lakers used the marquee time slot on Christmas to pancake the Mavericks in a game where they scored at least 30 points in every quarter. Anthony Davis had 28 points and eight rebounds, while LeBron James scored 22 with 10 assists.
A pair of newcomers also were productive. Montrezl Harrell gave an example of why he was last season’s Sixth Man of the Year, adding 22 points and seven rebounds off the bench, while Dennis Schroder offered 18 points and six assists.
The Lakers have been so pleased with Schroder after acquiring him in a trade with the Oklahoma City Thunder last month, reports have surfaced that a contract extension is in the works.
As Schroder is figuring out — although he probably knew already — life in Los Angeles on a team with a championship pedigree is pretty sweet.
“They’re making it easy for me (with) the transition,” Schroder said. “I think everybody came together. (Davis) and LeBron, they led the way and did a great job in that situation, and I think everyone is feeling comfortable.
“I think this group here, it’s fun. We want to get stops on the defensive end, and then we just want to run on the offensive end, I think as fast as possible. I think, yeah, you want to go out there and play with energy and get stops and run. That’s what we did (against the Mavericks), and we’ve just got to keep getting better.”
The Timberwolves improved to 2-0 with the victory at Utah to start a three-game trip. They will stay in Los Angeles to face the Clippers on Tuesday.
An emotional Karl-Anthony Towns scored 22 points with 11 rebounds in the opener and added 16 points and 12 boards against the Jazz as he dedicates his play to his late mother, who died in April of complications from COVID-19.
Towns left Saturday’s game with five minutes to play because of what appeared to be a serious left arm injury, but he returned in the closing minute.
No. 1 overall draft pick Anthony Edwards has averaged 16.5 points over the first two games of his NBA career.
“We can be a really good team. But at the same time, we can really be a bad team,” said veteran point guard Ricky Rubio, who is in his second stint in Minnesota.
“It’s a fine line where we want to be and how we want to be,” Rubio said, adding that it’s “one of the things” he was brought to do, “to bring it all together and try to win games.”
Timberwolves forward Naz Reid also had an injury scare when he fell on his left shoulder in the first half Saturday, but he returned toward the end of the third quarter.
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