Tip-off: Monday, 7:00 p.m. ET
Line: Minnesota -2.0, Total: 217.5

The Blazers and Timberwolves meet in Minnesota for a game that was supposed to be played on Mar. 6.

Portland and Minnesota were supposed to clash at Target Center on Mar. 6, but the game was postponed to Monday. This was supposed to be a night that was free of NBA games, as the attention is supposed to be on the NCAA Championship Game. That wasn’t how it worked out, though. The playing conditions on the Target Center floor were not safe on that March day, and now both of these teams will be missing that college showdown. Fortunately, only one player that will be in this game is an alumni of any of the Final Four teams. That would be Ed Davis, who went to North Carolina back in the day. As for this matchup, the Blazers are going to be the more confident team on Monday. Portland has gotten hot recently, and the team is currently holding on to the eighth seed in the Western Conference Playoffs. The Blazers also happen to be 6-1 SU and 5-2 ATS when facing the Timberwolves on Apr. 8, 2015. It also helps that they’re set to be at full strength on Monday, yet Minnesota is without SG Zach LaVine (Knee) for the remainder of the season.

The Blazers have beaten the Timberwolves twice this season, and it’s hard not to think about the play of SG C.J. McCollum (23.3 PPG) in those games. In two meetings with Minnesota this season, McCollum is averaging a ridiculous 37.5 PPG in 34.5 MPG. He shot 71.1% from the floor and 63.6% from three in those games, and he’ll hope to get hot once again on Monday. One thing that should help him do that is the attention that PG Damian Lillard (26.8 PPG, 5.9 APG, 4.9 RPG) will be drawing. Lillard is scorching hot coming into this contest, so defenses will have to be honest with both of them. Don’t be surprised if both of them put up 30, as they’re facing a Timberwolves team that has struggled to defend the perimeter throughout the course of the season. This team will, however, be without C Jusuf Nurkic in this one. Nurkic has been great since getting to Portland, so it will be a big loss for the Blazers. They’ll need somebody like C Meyers Leonard (5.3 PPG, 3.1 RPG) to step it up in this one.

When the Timberwolves faced the Blazers on Mar. 25, SF Andrew Wiggins (23.2 PPG) and PF Karl-Anthony Towns (24.7 PPG, 12.1 RPG, 1.3 BPG) combined to score just 36 points. That is not a good enough number for this duo, and each of them will need to hit the 20-point mark in order to win this game on Monday. They both will also need to be a lot better on the glass, as Wiggins has zero rebounds in that game and Towns had just five. The Timberwolves will also need some solid play out of both PGs Ricky Rubio (10.9 PPG, 9.0 APG, 1.8 SPG) and Kris Dunn (3.9 PPG, 1.0 SPG) on Monday. Both players are playing very well heading into this game, and they both bring tenacity on the defensive end. If they can somehow limit the scoring of Lillard and McCollum then things would be a lot easier for Minnesota on Monday. They cannot; however, both struggle from the field at the same tiem. One of these guys needs to provide a lift on offense, and that just might be Dunn. The rookie had 17 points against the Blazers on Mar. 25, and he might be confident going against smaller guards like Portland has.