Warriors vs. Timberwolves: 3 Player Props and Best Bet for Game 1

On paper, neither the No. 7 seed Golden State Warriors nor the No. 6 seed Minnesota Timberwolves should be in the Western Conference semifinals. In reality, only four games separated the second-seeded Houston Rockets from the Warriors, meaning both upsets were only mildly shocking.

Golden State enters Tuesday’s game in Minnesota with one day in between their Game 7 victory over Houston. The Warriors were 2-2 on the road in the playoffs while protecting their home court, something the squad will have to do in this series.

Minnesota has enjoyed five days of rest in between its opening round series and Tuesday’s matchup. The Timberwolves finished off the Los Angeles Lakers with relative ease, winning the decisive Game 5 matchup on the road.

Can the Timberwolves keep up their stellar postseason run, or will the Warriors continue to find ways to win? We’ll cover that and provide bettors with our top three player prop bets from Tuesday’s Western Conference second-round matchup.

Golden State Warriors PG Steph Curry OVER 4.5 3-Pt Field Goals

Golden State found other scorers to carry the load later in its series against the Rockets, but Steph Curry spurred his team’s first two wins by posting 67 points for the Warriors. Overall, he finished the series with 24.0 points per game thanks to his 39.2 shooting percentage from the three-point line.

Curry didn’t have a poor performance to speak of against Houston, and the same can be said against Minnesota. During the regular season, the 37-year-old veteran connected on nearly 46 percent of his long-range shots against the Timberwolves.

He finished with five or more trifectas in three of those four outings. Bettors should expect a similar outcome tonight after Curry made seven three-pointers in both road games against Minnesota during the regular season.

Minnesota T’Wolves SG Anthony Edwards UNDER 28.5 Points

After making a deep postseason run last year, Anthony Edwards has Minnesota poised for another Western Conference finals appearance. The shooting guard finished with 26.8 points, 8.4 rebounds, and 6.2 assists in the opening round against the Lakers, including a 43-point explosion to help the Timberwolves win Game 4.

Edwards was consistent, if nothing else, against the Warriors during the regular season. In three games, he finished between 27 and 30 points during those contests. We expect he’ll do the same tonight, finishing just below his scoring prop threshold in Tuesday’s series opener.

Golden State Warriors SF Jimmy Butler OVER 34.5 Pts + Reb + Ast

The Warriors acquired Jimmy Butler to have a strong scoring option opposite Curry for a deep playoff run. Thus far, he’s lived up to that billing in the postseason after averaging 17.9 points during the regular season.

Against the Rockets, Butler finished with numbers akin to his season averages, but mostly because his Game 2 performance was cut short. Otherwise, he averaged 21.4 points, 6.8 rebounds, and 5.6 assists. Bettors should expect him to have a similarly strong showing on Tuesday night, covering this combo prop bet against the Timberwolves.

Best Bet: Warriors (+6.5)

Although the Warriors won three of the four contests against Minnesota, the Timberwolves are a different team from those early-season games. For starters, Butler wasn’t with the team when Golden State last defeated Minnesota in mid-January.

Still, a seven-point win by the T’Wolves would be unexpected. The final matchup against the Warriors was a one-point game, and Minnesota squeaked by the Lakers in two of their four wins during the first round. Expect a similar showing on Tuesday as the Timberwolves fail to cover the spread against Golden State.