NBA Picks 1/8 – Cavs @ Timberwolves

By Thomas Quaynor for Wannamakeabet.com

The Cleveland Cavaliers (21-17) visit the Minnesota Timberwolves (24-13) tonight at Target Center. This is the first of two regular season meetings between the teams. Cleveland and Minnesota will square off again in just two days at Cleveland. The Cavaliers won both matchups against the Timberwolves last season, and have won three of the last four in the series overall. 

Minnesota is a 3-point favorite and the total is 239.5.

SPORTS AND POLITICS INTERTWINE TONIGHT? 

Tonight’s game could represent a moment where sports commingles with politics as Minneapolis, Minnesota is the scene where an ICE (Immigration and Custom Enforcement) officer shot and killed 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good during an operation on Wednesday morning. About 2,000 federal immigration and investigative agents were deployed to Minnesota by the Trump administration recently which led to the fatal encounter. 

The killing of Renee Nicole-Good has become a hot button issue for political and non-political hot take bloviators worldwide. The Timberwolves home arena — Target Center — is a large, visible venue where those protesting can gather in large numbers to be heard and seen. We’ll see if yesterday’s events impact tonight’s game in any way. 

WHAT BOTH TEAMS DID IN THEIR PREVIOUS GAME

The short-handed Cavaliers rallied for a 120-116 win at hapless Indiana (6-31) on Tuesday night, handing the Pacers their franchise-record 13th straight loss. All-Star guard Donovan Mitchell (rest management) did not play in the contest. Cleveland trailed by nine points entering the fourth quarter. 

Darius Garland scored a game-high 29 points (14-23 FG, 1-4 3Pt) and added six assists over 33 minutes in the win. Garland scored 14 of his 29 points in the fourth quarter, which ignited Cleveland’s comeback. Jarrett Allen added 19 points (8-13 FG, 0-1 3Pt, 3-6 FT), 12 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals across 34 minutes. The Cavaliers have won four of their last five games. 

Minnesota blasted the visiting Miami Heat 122-94 in front of a nationally televised audience (NBC) on Tuesday night. It was Minnesota’s third straight victory — each by double digits — and second win over Miami in three days. Minnesota broke open a relatively close game in the second half outscoring Miami by 21 points (61-40) after the intermission. The 28-point loss was Miami’s largest margin of defeat this season.  

All-NBA guard Anthony Edwards notched a game-high 26 points (8-18 FG, 5-8 3Pt, 5-6 FT) over 29 minutes for Minnesota. Rudy Gobert (13 pts, 16 rebs) and Julius Randle (15 pts, 11 rebs) each registered double-doubles in the win. All five Minnesota starters scored in double-figures. 

GAME STORYLINES: CLEVELAND

Last season, the Cleveland Cavaliers were the surprise of the NBA after getting off to a historic 15-0 start and compiling separate winning streaks of 15 and 16 games. Cleveland finished the year with a sparkling 64-18 record, which was good for first in the Eastern Conference. It was their best finish since 2008-09 when they went 66-16. Unfortunately, Cleveland’s season ended in a whimper as they were upended by the fourth-seeded Indiana Pacers in just 5 games in the conference semis. 

Cleveland’s inability to close out games in the final minutes and a lack of physicality doomed them in the playoff loss to Indiana last year. This was a surprising development because it appeared as if those issues were fixed during Cleveland’s dominant regular season. But an upstart Indiana team — led by Michael Jordan-like performances from Tyrese Haliburton — brought Cleveland’s previous flaws back to life.

The 2025-26 Cleveland Cavaliers are experiencing somewhat of a hangover from last year’s stunning playoff exit. Before Cleveland’s current stretch where they’ve won 4 of 5, they sat at just 17-16 on Dec. 27, and suffered inexplicable home losses to sub-500 teams like Portland, Charlotte and Chicago. To put things into proper context, Cleveland was 29-4 after 33 games last season.

A dip in the production from Cleveland’s supporting cast — surrounding superstar Donovan Mitchell — due to injury has also played a role in Cleveland’s regression up to this point of the season. All-Stars Evan Mobley (Grade 1 left calf strain) and Darius Garland (nagging left big toe sprain), along with big man Jarrett Allen (fractured left ring finger) have all missed time with injuries. All three appear to be returning to full health over the last few games which should bode well for the Cavs going forward in 2026.

Despite Cleveland’s uneven play for much of the season, superstar guard Donovan Mitchell is amassing another superb season in his ninth NBA campaign. The 29-year-old, 6-time All-Star is averaging a career-high 29.8 points, 5.4 assists, 4.7 rebounds, 1.5 steals and 3.9 threes, while shooting 49.7 percent from the floor and 38.8 percent from long distance in 34 games. He will be selected as an All-Star for a 6th straight season.

Second-year shooting guard Jaylon Tyson (12.8 pts, 5.5 rebs, 1 stl, 50.9% from 2, 43.9% from 3 in 32 gms) and sharpshooting guard Sam Merrill (13.6 pts, 2.5 asts, 3.4 threes, 46.2% from 2, 43.6% from 3 in 19 gms) have both been excellent filling in for injured Cavs starters. Tyson has improved his scoring average by nearly 10 ppg (3.6 to 12.8) in year two. 

GAME STORYLINES: MINNESOTA

With the exception of a few years with Hall of Famer and franchise stalwart Kevin Garnett, the Minnesota Timberwolves franchise had been unremarkable through the first 30+ years (1989-2023) of its existence. The last two seasons have brought enormous success for the franchise as Minnesota is coming off back-to-back trips to the Western Conference Finals in 2024 and 2025. 

What precipitated Minnesota’s enormous success over the last two seasons was selecting Anthony Edwards with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2020 NBA draft. The 24-year-old Georgia product has been a durable and elite player from the day he stepped onto an NBA court. Edwards has played in at least 72 games in each of his first 5 seasons and will increase his scoring average for a sixth straight season. 

Anthony Edwards is producing another stellar season in year six. The three-time All-Star is currently averaging a career-high 29.4 points, 5 rebounds, 3.7 assists, 1.4 steals and 3.3 threes on a career-best 50.6 percent shooting from the floor and 40 percent from beyond the arc in 29 games.

In addition to being an elite regular season player, Anthony Edwards has also shown himself to be a magnificent postseason performer. Edwards has career postseason averages of 26.9 points, 6.6 rebounds, 5.5 assists, 1.1 steals and 3.1 threes, while shooting 46.8 percent from the floor across 42 postseason games in four seasons. His ability to match/exceed his exceptional regular season production in the playoffs has been the catalyst for Minnesota’s deep postseason runs over the last 2 seasons. 

Minnesota possesses an excellent supporting cast around Anthony Edwards in three-time All-Star forward Julius Randle (22.3 pts, 6.9 rebs, 5.7 asts, 1.1 stls, 1.6 threes, 49% from 2 in 36 gms), versatile swingman Jaden McDaniels (14.4 pts, 4.5 rebs, 1.1 stls, 1.4 threes, 50.8% from 2, 41.8% from 3 in 34 gms, super 6th-man Naz Reid (14.3 pts, 6.2 rebs, 2.4 threes, 45.7% from 2 in 36 gms) and center Rudy Gobert (11.3 pts, 11.1 rebs, 1.7 blks, 71.4% from 2 in 36 gms). 

THE PICK: CAVALIERS (+3)

Cleveland looks to be slowly rounding into the juggernaut they were last year in the regular season now that their key players are back from injury. I expect them to keep this one very close or possibly beat the Timberwolves tonight. Take the Points and the Cavaliers!