Dallas Mavericks Open As Underdogs to Timberwolves in Western Conference Finals

For the third series in a row, the Mavericks are not the betting favorites heading into the series

Jan 7, 2024; Dallas, Texas, USA; Dallas Mavericks guard Luka Doncic (77) drives to the basket / Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

The Dallas Mavericks will be playing the Minnesota Timberwolves in the Western Conference Finals, just the second time Minnesota has ever made the conference finals as a franchise. Despite that inexperience, the Timberwolves have Vegas on their side early on.

Minnesota has opened as the favorite to advance to the NBA Finals on FanDuel, having -170 odds to win the series while the Mavericks are at +138. They also have the two lowest exact game odds, with a 5-game Minnesota win listed at +370 and a 7-game Minnesota win at +400. The lowest for a Mavericks win is them winning in six games, listed at +450.

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Timberwolves phenom Anthony Edwards also has the lowest odds to win Conference Finals MVP at -150, followed by Luka Doncic at +165. Edwards has averaged 28.9 PPG in these playoffs so far with three 40-point outings, but he's also been held below 20 four times in nine games. He'll likely see a lot of Derrick Jones Jr. in this series.

Dallas is used to being the underdog this year, having not been a favorite in any series this postseason, yet has won both opening rounds in 6 games. They've also lost every Game 1 in Jason Kidd's tenure as a coach for the Mavericks, and Minnesota is only a -4 favorite with a -178 moneyline for Wednesday's game.

This will be a series featuring two exceptional defenses. Minnesota had the league's best defensive rating throughout the regular season and just held the reigning champions to 97 PPG. Every game they allowed the Nuggets to score 100+ points, they lost, something for the Mavericks to potentially exploit. Dallas has their own stifling defense, as they had the league's best defensive rating for the final 20 games of the regular season and are coming off a series where they held the league's best shooting team to 33.5% from 3 and dominated on the glass.

Game 1 between the Timberwolves and Mavericks will start at 7:30 p.m. CST from the Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

READ MORE: Luka Doncic, Kyrie Irving React To ESPN's Grade For Irving Trade Following Game 6

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