Minnesota must win this game so they will put everything into it. They will make the adjustments and they will make sure they don’t go down 0-2 when they go to Dallas. This is a natural bounce back spot for the Timberwolves. Minnesota is 9-2 against the spread this season and 19-7 in the last three seasons avenging a straight up loss versus an opponent as a home favorite. If that loss is a close loss of 3 points or less, the Timberwolves are 7-1 this season against the spread. They will make sure P.J. Washington doesn’t have open looks. Gobert will have to play better down low. The T Wolves did not shoot well, they were in a bad emotional spot, off a game 7 too. They played tired and it was a natural spot for the visiting team in game 1. Edwards and Towns did not have good games so there should be positive regression in this game. Minnesota has the better bench, coach and defense and that should all come together in game 2. This team has been able to come back in tougher spots this season, so they can be trusted to dig down deep. The Timberwolves will be focussed and if they want to win, they have to hold the Mavericks to under 100 points in this game. They allowed Dallas to get 62 points inside the paint, and that can’t happen again. Look for Gobert to play his best game as he goes back to controlling the boards. They must win the defensive battle and hold Kyrie and Luka down, out of the paint, and away from the 3 point line. Dallas flipped the script on them in game 1 as far as getting more points in the paint. That is something Minnesota excels at so that is where the Timberwolves will be most effective tonight is in the paint defensively. In a must win game, this is a spot for the home team.

Best bet: lay the points with Minnesota.