Timberwolves vs Lakers Game 1 Prediction & Best Bets: Will L.A. Land the First Punch at Home?

All four of the Western Conference series in the first round of the 2025 NBA Playoffs carry some level of intrigue, but the headliner of this round is the matchup between the sixth-seeded Minnesota Timberwolves and the third-seeded Los Angeles Lakers, which gets underway this evening with Game 1 taking place at Crypto.com Arena (8:30 pm ET, ABC).

A 6-2 stretch down the stretch helped Los Angeles fend off other hopefuls for the #3 seed and a chance to start their postseason journey at home, where they went 31-10 in the regular season. That was the third-best home record in the league behind only the Oklahoma City Thunder and Cleveland Cavaliers, the two #1 seeds in this year’s playoff bracket.

That puts them in a strong position to start well against Minnesota, who avoided the play-in tournament by going 8-1 to close out the regular season. That included a 4-1 run on the road, where they were 24-17 in the regular season.

However, all four previous head-to-head matchups this season went to the home team, including a 111-102 win for the Lakers on February 27. That is the lone meeting between the two teams since the blockbuster trade that sent Luka Doncic to Los Angeles and helped catapult the Lakers back into the conversation as a potential NBA championship contender.

Timberwolves vs Lakers Prediction and Best Bets

In last year’s playoffs, the Timberwolves went 6-2 on the road on the way to reaching the Western Conference finals for the first time since 2004. That included winning both road games in their first-round sweep of the Phoenix Suns.

Repeating that feat will be a tough ask, even if Minnesota had one of the best road records in the league in the regular season.

That is because the Lakers have been excellent at home this season, both before and since they acquired Doncic. That includes a stellar showing against teams they could face in the coming weeks. They were 10-3 SU and 9-4 ATS against Western Conference playoff teams and 14-7 SU and 13-8 ATS overall against playoff teams.

That bodes well for being able to count on them to perform when the lights come on tonight, especially when the home team in this head-to-head went a perfect 4-0 SU and ATS in the regular season.

The outlook is also favorable for the under in this matchup. All four regular season matchups went under, and the highest-scoring contests featured a combined 213 points.

Take the Lakers to cover and the under.

Interested in Learning More About NBA Betting?

Looking to learn more about the ins and outs of betting on the NBA? Check out our NBA betting guide. Also, if you’d like to learn more about NBA player prop bets, check out our NBA player props guide.

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