The Minnesota Timberwolves get set to take on the Portland Trail Blazers for the second consecutive game when they clash Thursday night inside the Moda Center in Portland, OR. They tip it off at 10:00 pm. 

Bookmaker has installed Minnesota as a heavy 9.5-point favorite in this clash. 

The Timberwolves (38-16) have had a very good season so far and they are coming off a 121-109 win over these same Trail Blazers on Tuesday night. Now, they get set to face them again, and we believe they should get the same result. 

Minnesota is a vastly superior team to Portland and they are on the verge of making a deep run into the playoffs. They have the talent and the depth to be a force coming out of the Western Conference and they think they have the makeup of a team that can contend for a title. 

They have already won 38 games and they have a great offense led by shooting guard Anthony Edwards, who has had a brilliant season. He is averaging a team-high 26 points per game but might not go Thursday night due to right knee soreness. 

He has been a force and even if he can not go, the Timberwolves can rely on center Karl-Anthony Towns, who is netting 22.5 points per contest to go along with 8.4 rebounds and he is playing both ends of the floor. He is cleaning up the glass and also protecting the rim. Center Rudy Gobert adds just under three blocks per game. 

The Trail Blazers (15-38) are clearly in the rebuilding stage of the season and they are not a team that will be making a deep push into the playoffs. They will be on the outside looking in and they know they have a ton of work to be done this season and after going forward. 

They do not have a ton of talent and they have had major issues playing defense this season and also scoring on a consistent level night in and night out. Shooting guard Anfernee Simons has played well, though, and he is averaging around 23 a game but he needs a better-supporting cast to help him out. 

As a whole offensive unit, Portland connects on 55% from the floor, which is not bad and around 33% from beyond the arc. They are always playing from behind and the opposition will let them get some easy buckets late. They need to learn to make stops in games and also play better defense along the perimeter. 

The Trail Blazers are 0-5 in their last five games and 2-3 in their last five games against the number. They are a solid 14-14 in their road games against the spread and the totals have gone over in three out of their last five games. The Timberwolves are 4-1 in their last five games and 4-1 in their last five games against the number. They are also 15-14 in their road games against the spread. The totals have gone over in three out of their last five games.