If the Spurs put the finishing touches on the Timberwolves this Friday night in Minneapolis, odds are good that 7-foot-4 superstar Victor Wembanyama will be the main character.
Wembanyama is averaging 20 points, 13 rebounds and four blocks per game this series and those numbers are skewed because the Frenchman threw an elbow Sunday and was ejected after logging only 12 minutes.
Armed with an 8-foot wingspan, Wembanyama plays defense like a pterodactyl, which makes life extremely difficult for opposing bigs.
Especially ones that aren’t known for scoring.
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I think one of the best bets on the board Friday is to take Minnesota center Rudy Gobert’s point prop Under 6.5 (-118). Gobert is essentially the Wolves’ seventh scoring option behind Anthony Edwards, Julius Randle, Jaden McDaniels, Ayo Dosunmu, Naz Reid and Terrence Shannon Jr.
Don’t expect that to suddenly change in a must-win game.
Aside from the occasional alley-oop, Minnesota doesn’t run many actions for Gobert. He doesn’t have a mid-range jumper, rarely looks for his own shot and is shooting an abysmal 47% from the free throw line in the series.
Nobody’s confusing him with Patrick Ewing or Hakeem Olajuwon.
“Minnesota doesn’t look Gobert’s way when Wemby is out there,” one basketball bettor told me. “They don’t run offense through him and some of their best lineups are when [head coach Chris Finch] goes small and speedy.
“Don’t be surprised if Edwards takes 30 shots.”
It also looks easy to bet Over 6.5 on a guy averaging eight points per game in the series and who averaged 11 points a game in the regular season.
Thanks, but no thanks.
Elsewhere, the Thunder are a perfect 8-0 this postseason with sweeps against the Suns and Lakers — and they still look bored.
I wrote last week about parlaying OKC with other futures and if you didn’t make any of those bets yet, the math is still advantageous.
BetMGM is dealing the Thunder at -165 to win the title and DraftKings is a smidge higher at -170. The price hasn’t changed much since everybody knew OKC would send the Lakers home for the summer, but other sportsbooks are at -190 and -200. Please make sure you’re shopping at the right store.
It’s sounding more and more like Jalen Williams will return soon, too. Oklahoma City’s second-leading scorer suffered a mild hamstring strain on April 22, but by the time the Western Conference finals tip, Williams will have gone through almost a full month of rehabilitation and recovery.
What are you waiting for?