NBA Basketball
2026-04-02 - Minnesota Timberwolves at Detroit Pistons
A Sports Betting Pick by FirstDown
United States : NBA Basketball
Thursday 2nd April 2026 - Scheduled 7pm EST
12am (British Time)
Preview
The calendar has ticked over into April and that means we are now less than two weeks away from the end of the NBA regular season and the attention turns to the Playoffs.
Both the Detroit Pistons (55-21) and Minnesota Timberwolves (46-29) are set for First Round action, although there is still the motivation to improve Seeding as far as the latter are concerned. The Pistons cannot move further than the Number 1 Seed, but they are motivated to hold off the Boston Celtics for that spot and so both teams should be plenty focused in this late regular season game.
It is the second time they are meeting in the space of a few days having last played against one another on Saturday.
On that occasion the Pistons were able to win on the road, but Minnesota have Anthony Edwards back in the lineup now and that makes them a lot more dangerous. Detroit were able to roll through the second half in pulling away for a comfortable win in that game on Saturday, but they have played a game more than Minnesota since then and that could be a potential factor.
Cade Cunningham will continue to sit for the Pistons as he looks to recover from a collapsed run and be ready to suit up when the First Round of the Playoffs begin in a little over two weeks time. The concern for the fans was how Detroit would handle being without the top player, but those left on the roster have rallied and stepped up and the team have won six of eight games with Cunningham out of the lineup.
The two Offensive units will feel the Defenses in front of them will offer a challenge, but there has been more consistency in the way Detroit have been performing with the ball in hand.
Minnesota fans will point out that the return of Anthony Edwards resets everything for the Timberwolves Offensive unit and that will certainly make them more competitive than in the 22 point home loss last weekend. However, it may not be enough for the Timberwolves to stay with this Detroit team that continue to walk through walls on their way to the top Seed in the Eastern Conference and arguably favourites to reach the NBA Finals in June.
Even without Cade Cunningham, Detroit have found a consistency in the Offensive game-plan which will give the edge, while hosting is also a bonus.
In a make or miss League, the Timberwolves will have to hope they can exploit the three point shooting- they have been averaging around 11 per game in recent outings, but the key may be on the Defensive side of the court where they have restricted teams to around 9 per game.
Close games can be decided by those late three pointers, but this Detroit team is showing they are very deep on the roster. Pushing the Oklahoma City Thunder all the way without Cade Cunningham can only be a good thing for the Pistons in the post-season and the motivation to just hold off the Boston Celtics can ensure they do enough to edge to the cover as a narrow favourite.
Prediction
Lay the points with the home favourite.
The Pick :
Detroit Pistons 108-102 Minnesota Timberwolves
