Timberwolves are major betting favorites over Warriors in tied series

After the Timberwolves' relatively smooth 117-93 victory over the Warriors in Game 2 on Thursday night, the betting odds have swung pretty significantly in favor of Minnesota advancing to the Western Conference Finals.

At FanDuel Sportsbook, the Wolves are -330 favorites to advance past Golden State (+265). That's an implied probability of around 77 percent in favor of Chris Finch's team winning three of the next five.

Obviously, the hamstring injury suffered by Warriors superstar Steph Curry in the first half of Game 1 is a major factor in the odds. The Wolves entered this series as roughly -160 to -180 favorites, depending on where you looked. But despite losing Game 1 at home in ugly fashion, their odds improved to -210 because of Curry's injury. He's already been ruled out for Games 3 and 4 as well, and it's possible he won't be able to return at all during this series.

The Wolves avoided a potentially series-shifting superstar injury of their on Thursday. In the second quarter, Anthony Edwards stayed down and was in pain after a play where Trayce Jackson-Davis landed on his left ankle. It didn't look good when Edwards hobbled to the locker room with assistance (despite Ant frequently shaking off injury scares, head coach Chris Finch was legitimately concerned about this one). But as he's done many times before, he was able to return after halftime and look no worse for the wear. After the game, Edwards said he's good to go.

The Wolves were able to comfortably tie the series at 1-1 despite another relatively quiet scoring night from Edwards. They got big performances from Julius Randle, Jaden McDaniels, and Nickeil Alexander-Walker against a Warriors team that was searching for offensive answers without its best player.

The next two games will take place at the Chase Center in San Francisco. Game 3 is on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. central time (5:30 p.m. local).

Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem and wants help, call 1-800-GAMBLER.

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