Denver Nuggets at Minnesota Timberwolves (+9, 202)
It doesn’t seem to matter how many points you give the T-Wolves on their home court, they’ll find a way to blow the spread.
The rebuilding Wolves are 1-6 straight up and 2-5 ATS in their own gym. Opponents are outscoring are outscoring the home side at the Target Center by an average of 11.4 points per night.
There are some big issues going on behind the scenes in Minny these days. Team president David Kahn confused a lot of people by drafting two point guards with his two top 10 picks last draft. But according to New York Daily News columnist Mitch Lawrence, Kahn’s biggest mistake might have been hiring Kurt Rambis as the new coach.
Kahn apparently didn’t know that Rambis would be running the triangle offense in Minnesota. The question never came up in interviews and now Rambis is running an offense that doesn’t fit well with the team’s parts.
Rookie Jonny Flynn is confused and he’s restricted from attacking the rack and playing the pick ‘n’ roll, two things he excelled at in college.
Take the Nuggets even though they’re played on the second night of a back to back.
Pick: Nuggets
Dallas Mavericks at Houston Rockets (-4, 201.5)
Tracy McGrady is like a dumped girlfriend that just won’t go away. The former All-Star and league scoring champ wasn’t supposed to be completely recovered from his microfracture surgery until the January, but McGrady insists he’s ready now.
“I feel I can play, but the coach and the GM obviously feel different,” McGrady told the Houston Chronicle on Tuesday. “They run this team and until they feel I’m ready to play, then I guess I’ll be watching.”
The truth is the Rockets have moved on from T-Mac. He really pissed them off last season when he had the microfracture surgery and didn’t tell the organization beforehand.
Houston is going younger and McGrady isn’t part of the plan. General manager Daryl Morey and coach Rick Adelman like the chemistry of this year’s club and they worry McGrady will ruin it.
We like Morey and Adelman’s reasoning. Houston is a better team than most people think.
Pick n Roll 11/25
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