Camden wrote:Denver lost to Cleveland and Dallas lost to Philadelphia.
Minnesota is now 1.0 game behind Denver for the sixth seed and 2.5 games behind Dallas for the fifth seed.
Yep. Good results last night. Tonight's game against the Bucks is a big one for the Wolves. If they can pull off a win, they'll only be a half game behind the 6th place Nuggets and probably remain 2.5 games behind the 5th place Mavs since the Mavs will probably win tonight. Meanwhile, the Clippers have been sinking like a stone so the Wolves have a lock on 7th place. Wish we didn't have this play-in tournament.
And now Giannis is out with a sore knee. Good for the Wolves pursuit of the Nuggets, not good as a measuring stick.
Camden wrote:Denver lost to Cleveland and Dallas lost to Philadelphia.
Minnesota is now 1.0 game behind Denver for the sixth seed and 2.5 games behind Dallas for the fifth seed.
Yep. Good results last night. Tonight's game against the Bucks is a big one for the Wolves. If they can pull off a win, they'll only be a half game behind the 6th place Nuggets and probably remain 2.5 games behind the 5th place Mavs since the Mavs will probably win tonight. Meanwhile, the Clippers have been sinking like a stone so the Wolves have a lock on 7th place. Wish we didn't have this play-in tournament.
And now Giannis is out with a sore knee. Good for the Wolves pursuit of the Nuggets, not good as a measuring stick.
Oh, no. Another lucky win if the Wolves show up and play hard. Hopefully those still count in the standings. Can anyone confirm if a win is still a win?
I'm being facetious, obviously, but the Wolves don't need to prove anything at this point. They've faced good teams along the way this season and won their fair share of them. They need to be most-focused on getting a top-six seed. Any help in accomplishing that is greatly appreciated.
Camden wrote:Denver lost to Cleveland and Dallas lost to Philadelphia.
Minnesota is now 1.0 game behind Denver for the sixth seed and 2.5 games behind Dallas for the fifth seed.
Yep. Good results last night. Tonight's game against the Bucks is a big one for the Wolves. If they can pull off a win, they'll only be a half game behind the 6th place Nuggets and probably remain 2.5 games behind the 5th place Mavs since the Mavs will probably win tonight. Meanwhile, the Clippers have been sinking like a stone so the Wolves have a lock on 7th place. Wish we didn't have this play-in tournament.
And now Giannis is out with a sore knee. Good for the Wolves pursuit of the Nuggets, not good as a measuring stick.
Oh, no. Another lucky win if the Wolves show up and play hard. Hopefully those still count in the standings. Can anyone confirm if a win is still a win?
I'm being facetious, obviously, but the Wolves don't need to prove anything at this point. They've faced good teams along the way this season and won their fair share of them. They need to be most-focused on getting a top-six seed. Any help in accomplishing that is greatly appreciated.
Good post, Cam. I agree the Wolves are beyond the point of having to prove they're a good, playoff-caliber team. I also agree that the focus should simply be on winning enough games to move up at least into 6th place to avoid the play-in tournament and enhance their chances of possibly advancing in the playoffs. The Bucks will still be a tough opponent tonight. In fact, there are no easy wins in the NBA. Any team in the NBA can be beat by any other team.
Camden wrote:Denver lost to Cleveland and Dallas lost to Philadelphia.
Minnesota is now 1.0 game behind Denver for the sixth seed and 2.5 games behind Dallas for the fifth seed.
Yep. Good results last night. Tonight's game against the Bucks is a big one for the Wolves. If they can pull off a win, they'll only be a half game behind the 6th place Nuggets and probably remain 2.5 games behind the 5th place Mavs since the Mavs will probably win tonight. Meanwhile, the Clippers have been sinking like a stone so the Wolves have a lock on 7th place. Wish we didn't have this play-in tournament.
And now Giannis is out with a sore knee. Good for the Wolves pursuit of the Nuggets, not good as a measuring stick.
Oh, no. Another lucky win if the Wolves show up and play hard. Hopefully those still count in the standings. Can anyone confirm if a win is still a win?
I'm being facetious, obviously, but the Wolves don't need to prove anything at this point. They've faced good teams along the way this season and won their fair share of them. They need to be most-focused on getting a top-six seed. Any help in accomplishing that is greatly appreciated.
I think they have proven they are a good team and are better than the below .500 teams. I think how good they are or aren't...there could be a debate. To be fair this happens to teams in their position pretty much every year at this time or right up to the playoffs. This is an excellent spot to be in considering where they have been for most of many years. Debating how good they are not how much they suck or maybe not suck as much as they seem to etc. In reality we probably agree I'm just adding some more nuance to my take on it.
Also I'll take any chance I can get for the Wolves to move up in the standings. The playoffs can be the measuring stick and I'd prefer to have the best seed when they get there. I think most people here know the Wolves haven't always had the best matchup fortune in the past.
Spurs win against GS and that puts them 2.5 games behind the Lakers and Pelicans for that last spot of the play in. I suppose it's still a bit of a long shot for the Spurs to get in and keep the Lakers out of the playoffs but I can't help keeping track.
The Wolves are definitely in control of their own destiny now. But they have a tough stretch of games coming up. Games that will be especially tough to win include tonight's game at Dallas, Wednesday's home game against the Suns, and upcoming road games against Boston, Denver and Toronto. Next Friday's home game against Dallas won't be easy either.
Normally, I'd assume a Wolves loss against Dallas tonight, but the Mavs are struggling right now. Nevertheless, I still think Dallas will win, but a Wolves win tonight would be HUGE. I don't see the Wolves beating the Celtics in Boston. The Celtics are a really good team and they're playing their best ball of the season right now. I put them right there with the Sixers, Bucks and Heat contending for the Eastern Conference championship.
Here are the games I think the Wolves will likely lose:
@Dallas
@Boston
@Toronto
Here are the the games I think the Wolves will likely win:
@Houston
Washington (home)
San Antonio (home)
Chicago (home)
That's 4 likely wins and 3 likely losses. The three swing games that will determine the Wolves fate are:
Phoenix (home)
Dallas (home)
@Denver
I see the Wolves record over these last 10 games ending up anywhere from 7-3 to 4-6.
