Los Angeles Lakers vs Minnesota Timberwolves 2/16/21: Starting Lineups, Matchup Preview, Betting Odds

Los Angeles Lakers vs. Minnesota Timberwolves Matchup Preview

Los Angeles comes into Minnesota tonight as -6.5 favorites without Anthony Davis. The Timberwolves will be without D’Angelo Russell, but they did just get Karl-Anthony Towns back who won’t have to deal with that Davis defense. Minnesota got off the losing streak with a win but is still 3-7 in the last ten games. The Lakers are 7-3 and sit two games back of the Jazz, who are first in the West. While the Timberwolves have a chance to at least compete in this game, Vegas is still looking at the Lakers are strong favorites. For odds movement and full matchup history, visit the Los Angeles Lakers at Minnesota Timberwolves Matchup Page.

TV Schedule

Date: 2/16/21
Time: 8:00 PM ET
Arena: Target Center – Minnesota, MN
Channel:

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Lakers Starting 5

PG: LeBron James
SG: Dennis Schroder
SF: Kentavious Caldwell-Pope
PF: Kyle Kuzma
C: Marc Gasol

Lakers Analysis

Los Angeles walks in winning seven of their last ten, despite dealing with an injured Anthony Davis. The best defensive team in the league will be without their best defensive player. They rank firsts in defensive rating and also are allowing 105.8 points per game. It is a big part of their game and we will see over the next 2-3 weeks how the Davis absence really affects their defense. They will have some tough matchups over the next few games as they take on the Nets, Heat, Wizards, Jazz, and Trail Blazers. Of course, a few of those are not like the others but the offenses are strong. We haven’t seen much of a dropoff in the offense, and Davis hasn’t exactly been a lights-out offensive player this year. But they are averaging weirdly more blocks and points per game without him this season. This is more just pointing towards the Lakers will be fine to cover in the next few weeks. The defense only gives up two points more per game with him out so far this season.

Timberwolves Starting 5

PG: Ricky Rubio
SG: Malik Beasley
SF: Anthony Edwards
PF: Jarred Vanderbilt
C: Karl-Anthony Towns

Timberwolves Analysis

D’Angelo Russell is out tonight and will be out for the next 4-6 weeks. We will see a lot more Ricky Rubio in the lineup but Malik Beasley and Anthony Edwards will pick up a lot of the usage. With Russell off the court this season, Edwards has seen a 2.6% usage bump and Beasley’s usage goes up slightly as well. Karl-Anthony Towns has his usual usage and sees a slight bump in production, but nothing too crazy. Jarrett Culver is out for the next few games so the Timberwolves are dealing with some injury issues as they have all year long. Minnesota is still an intriguing matchup tonight for the Lakers because their guards can go off on any night and Towns won’t have to deal with a tough frontcourt. Beasley is leading the team in scoring with 20.9 points per game. Rubio has averaged 6.2 assists per game and this might be a little showing if any team is looking at Rubio as a piece at the deadline.

Lakers & Timberwolves DFS Angle

Minnesota is one of the worst defenses in the league and we should see LeBron James have a monster game. He is a solid pay-up option of course and then you can look at Kyle Kuzma and Montrezl Harrell who will big up the slack that Davis leaves behind. For the Minnesota side, Anthony Edwards and Ricky Rubio are solid GPP options. Malik Beasley is in play given his floor is a bit more solid, but Edwards is cheaper and will have a ton of volume with Russell out. Towns is a riskier big in comparison to the rest of the position tonight but we know the upside is there.

Lakers vs. Timberwolves Betting Odds

Lakers Spread: -6.5
Lakers Moneyline: -265
Timberwolves Spread: +6.5
Timberwolves Moneyline: +215
Over/Under Points Total: 222.5

Public money is not heading the Lakers way despite them still being very effective without Davis. They haven’t been a great covering team so I get it as they are 13-15 ATS this season, where Minnesota is 14-12-1. I do like the over in this one, even with Russell and Davis out. Minnesota’s allowing 115 per game this season, we should see the Minnesota guards firing away.