The finish line for the NBA season is in sight. With only five days remaining in the regular season, there are still a lot of unanswered questions about playoffs and play-in seeding in both conferences. The teams still fighting for position should be more motivated, but they also have to balance the desire for better seeding with the need to enter the postseason fresh. There are eight games on tap Wednesday night, so let's dig in and find some opportunities for teams or players to outperform expectation.
Minnesota Timberwolves (+5.5) over Denver Nuggets (even).
In the marquee game of the day, the two teams vying for the one-seed in the Western Conference face off for the last time this season. The Timberwolves lead the series 2-1, and the one Nuggets win was by only three points. The two most recent games, the Nuggets' win and the Wolves' 13-point win in Denver, came with Karl-Anthony Towns (knee) out of the lineup. I expect this one to be competitive, so I'll take the points. The BPI game predictor agrees, with the Nuggets as a slight 1.8 point favorite that is well within the 5.5 point spread.
LA Clippers (+4.5) vs. Phoenix Suns (-115). The Clippers are approaching the end of the season on a positive swing, despite Kawhi Leonard (knee) having missed the last five games. The Clippers have won four of those games, and seven of their last eight overall to take a strong grip on the fourth seed out West. The Suns, meanwhile, have lost two straight, including a 13-point loss to the Clippers on the first half of their back-to-back on Tuesday night. According to the ESPN BPI game predictor, the Clippers should be favored to win outright with an estimated margin of 2.1 points.
San Antonio Spurs (+15.5) vs. Oklahoma City Thunder
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