The Minnesota Timberwolves have been one of the league's best stories throughout the 2023-24 season. After a relatively disappointing season last year, it became quickly obvious to NBA fans that the Timberwolves were a different team this season. As the regular season nears its end, the Timberwolves are a single win away from its first 50-win season since the 2003-04 season.
As of Tuesday morning, the Timberwolves sit 3rd in the west standings, just 1.5 games back of the Denver Nuggets and .5 games back of the 2nd place Oklahoma City Thunder.
Interestingly, despite the close grouping at the top, sports bettors can get 10/1 odds on the Timberwolves to grab that one-seed away from the Nuggets and Thunder.
From DraftKings as of Tuesday, March 26, 2024:
- Denver Nuggets (-425)
- Oklahoma City Thunder (+475)
- Minnesota Timberwolves (+1000)
The Timberwolves have a number of winnable games down the final stretch of the season with games against the Pistons, Bulls, Raptors, Wizards and Hawks. But the T-Wolves also play the Suns twice, and even more interestingly, the Nuggets twice. These two head-to-head matchups against the Nuggets might determine how the west standings finally unfold. Note that the Nuggets have won 9 of their last 10 games.
NBA Championship Odds
If we consider the NBA Championship, the betting public isn't putting much faith in the Timberwolves to go all the way. The Timberwolves currently are tied with the Mavericks with 8th shortest odds to win the NBA Championship at +3200.
These are the latest odds to win the NBA Championship via FanDuel:
- Celtics (+210)
- Nuggets (+310)
- Clippers (+550)
- Bucks (+750)
- Thunder (+1900)
- Suns (+2400)
- Knicks (+3000)
- Timberwolves (+3200)
- Mavericks (+3200)
It's understandable to see certain teams like the Celtics, Nuggets, Bucks and Clippers near the top, but the Suns and Knicks are getting more love than the Timberwolves, as well. Possible value to be had here?
Player Awards
NBA regular season player awards are some of the most discussed items as it relates to NBA betting during the season.
Most Valuable Player
While Minnesota's Anthony Edwards was on a number of MVP lists for much of the season, sportsbooks like DraftKings no longer have Edwards on the board. Here are the latest MVP odds from DraftKings as of March 26, 2024:
- Nikola Jokic (-1000)
- Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (+800)
- Luka Doncic (+1600)
- Jayson Tatum (+8000)
- Giannis Antetokounmpo (+8000)
Defensive Player of the Year
Minnesota fans will be excited to see that Rudy Gobert seems to be the run-away favorite for the defensive player of the year award. Gobert currently sits at -900 on DraftKings to take down the DPOY, ahead of rookie Victor Wembanyama (+600), Jarrett Allen (+8000) and Bam Adebayo (+8000).
Sixth Man of the Year
Odds are also listed in a number of sportsbooks for the NBA's sixth man of the year award. Here are the latest from FanDuel, as of March 26, 2024:
- Malik Monk (-1050)
- Naz Reid (+900)
- Normal Powell (+3000)
- Bobby Portis (+5000)
Coach of the Year
Coach Chris Finch is in the mix for the coach of the year award, but it seems that the voters are set on Oklahoma City's Mark Daigneault to grab the individual honor.
The latest odds from FanDuel are:
- Mark Daigneault (-420)
- Jamahl Mosley (+500)
- Chris Finch (+1200)
- Joe Mazzulla (+1900)
The Final Stretch
Expect an exciting finish to the regular season for the Minnesota Timberwolves as the team eclipses the 50-win mark and possibly makes a run at the No. 1 seed in the west. Then, it's likely that the Timberwolves will square off in round one of the NBA Playoffs against a team such as the Sacramento Kings, Dallas Mavericks, Phoenix Suns or even the LA Lakers depending on how the play-in games go.
In the meantime, NBA fans in legal states can also enjoy NBA themed online casino games such as BetMGM's NBA Gold online slots game. THe game features basketball themed symbols and sports some of the logos from NBA franchises. BetMGM is one of the best Pennsylvania online casinos.
The NBA play-in games are April 16-19, 2024, and round one of the NBA Playoffs begins April 20, 2024.
The NBA Finals begin June 6, 2024.
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