60WinTim wrote:Sacramento had a klunker last night. They might have been on top in the KOM, but they seem like the team most likely to fall in the standings with Cousins gone.
Having a healthy Tyreke Evans helps them not be too terrible. It's interesting that they didn't play Affalo but I think they started Tolliver. Skal had another nice stat line as did Buddy and Mclemore.
New Orleans - W - Actual L
Chicago - W - Actual W
Cleveland - L - Actual L
@ Denver - L - Actual W
Dallas - W - Actual W
@ Houston - L - Actual L
@ Sacramento - W/L
@ Utah - L
@ San Antonio - L
Portland - W
Clippers - L
Warriors - L
@ Milwaukee - W/L
Washington - L
@ Boston - L
@ Miami - L
@ New Orleans - W/L
San Antonio - W
@ Lakers - W/L
@ Portland - L
@ Indiana - L
Lakers - W
Sacramento - W
@ Golden State - L
@ Portland - L
@ Utah - L
@ Lakers - W/L
OKC - L
@ Houston - L
So far we are treading water, with one unexpected Loss and one unexpected Win. This is basically just to match what we did last season, so we need to exceed these predictions to have any shot at the playoffs. Luckily, the other teams are treading water too.
I originally had tonight as a toss-up, so a win tonight is like a half game's worth of an unexpected win. Every little bit helps!
In the short term the trade deadline probably helps the Wolves. Every other team the Wolves are going against made a move for a player/players they have to integrate onto their roster. The Wolves are just staying pat unless you what to include Lance if they keep him around which all signs point to them doing that.
I watched quite a bit of the Blazers Raps game yesterday and it was interesting to see Ibaka and PJ on the Raptors and see how Nurkic was doing on the Blazers. Well...PJ knocked 2 of Nurkic's teeth out and Ibaka was fantastic. Portland kept it interesting. Delon Wright showed some flashes getting to the basket. They will need him to be worthwhile with Lowry out for a few weeks.
New Orleans - W - Actual L
Chicago - W - Actual W
Cleveland - L - Actual L
@ Denver - L - Actual W
Dallas - W - Actual W
@ Houston - L - Actual L
@ Sacramento - W/L - Actual W
@ Utah - L
@ San Antonio - L
Portland - W
Clippers - L
Warriors - L
@ Milwaukee - W/L
Washington - L
@ Boston - L
@ Miami - L
@ New Orleans - W/L
San Antonio - W
@ Lakers - W/L
@ Portland - L
@ Indiana - L
Lakers - W
Sacramento - W
@ Golden State - L
@ Portland - L
@ Utah - L
@ Lakers - W/L
OKC - L
@ Houston - L
So we won a toss-up last night and gained a half game on Denver. We're now just 2.5 games back. Utah is the game we need to win to REALLY pick up some momentum. They play tonight @OKC, so we will be the second game of a back-to-back when they play us on Wednesday. Go Wolves!
New Orleans - W - Actual L
Chicago - W - Actual W
Cleveland - L - Actual L
@ Denver - L - Actual W
Dallas - W - Actual W
@ Houston - L - Actual L
@ Sacramento - W/L - Actual W
@ Utah - L - Actual W
@ San Antonio - L
Portland - W
Clippers - L
Warriors - L
@ Milwaukee - W/L
Washington - L
@ Boston - L
@ Miami - L
@ New Orleans - W/L
San Antonio - W
@ Lakers - W/L
@ Portland - L
@ Indiana - L
Lakers - W
Sacramento - W
@ Golden State - L
@ Portland - L
@ Utah - L
@ Lakers - W/L
OKC - L
@ Houston - L
What on earth had gotten into Bjelly? He's freakin' containing dribble drivers, blocking shots, getting in passing lanes, and even knocking down some shots. Where are the untimely flubs and indecision?
Love what Rush brought to the party as well. I realize he wasn't guarding Hayward (Wiggins did a great job on him), but just playing with some dog in him, fighting over screens, and making a couple of nice 3's. That's what we need from him.
May be Thibs' defensive stuff is finally getting through to these guys....
EDIT: Oops, meant this for the other thread, ha ha!
The good news is Denver's schedule is no cupcake either. Sacramento twice, LAL once, Dallas once and NO twice and the rest are respectable to good teams. So 6 games they should win and 14 others that are toss ups or losses. We've got LAL 3 times, Sacramento once, NO once. 5 games we should win and 16 others that are toss ups or losses. Given our domination of Utah I also like our chances to steal a few against good teams. It's gonna be close. It's gonna be hard to make up 3 games especially with no games against each other but it's gonna be interesting.
If we beat the spurs on our next game. Im going to boldly predict that we can pass denver and steal the 8th seed. The wolves should go all in defeating the spurs.
I still fear Dallas almost as much as Denver as our main competition for 8th spot. They have been winning more than 50% of their games after Dirk came back and they have eight games against cup cake teams (Lakers, Phoenix twice, Brooklyn twice, Sacramento, Philly and New Orleans). Only three of those are their home games tough, so hopefully they will lose at least one of those games. It was great that they lost to Atlanta today and are now behind us in standings.
