Playoffs discussion

[FNG]

I'm curious both to hear what the real story is with Jenkins, and also what impact his dismissal has on the Grizzlies. If there is seriously something wrong with them, we may know tonight as they play the Lakers. A klunker tonight for them plus another klunker in their game with us on April 10 would move them a game behind us in my projection. I know...a lot to ask for. But we can hope.

I'm thinking it's more likely Jenkins was dismissed because Ja asked for it. I note that Ja sat out the last 6 games (4 of them losses) with a "hamstring injury", and now is magically expected to return tonight the day after Jenkins is fired. Hmmm...

Anyway, the Wolves remain in 8th place (tied with the Warriors for 7th with 47 wins, but GS has the tie breaker). Both teams are projected to win 5 more games, but I think the Warriors have a much better chance of getting a klunker, because 3 of those wins are home games against Denver, Houston and the Clippers. The Clippers are projected to win 6 of their final 9 games to finish a game ahead of us, but they also have three tough home games against Dallas (2) and Houston that could turn out to be klunkers. And remember, we have the tie breaker both head to head with them and in a 3-way tie. Far from over.

But first order of business is beating the Pistons Sunday. Ben Beecken on his podcast said he thought Detroit might be favored by a couple points. I don't think so. I think the Wolves will be favored by at least 5 and will win this one.

[60WinTim]

The Lakers have the tougher remaining schedule, so a Laker loss would have increased the possibility of putting the #5 seed in play for the Wolves. But Memphis doesn't have a cakewalk either, so for anyone trying to keep the door open for the #4 seed, the Laker win tonight was a good thing!

But as you said, first things first. The home game against Detroit is the toughest home game the Wolves have left. Hopefully they don't surprise the Wolves like the last time they met up...

[FNG]

The Lakers have the tougher remaining schedule, so a Laker loss would have increased the possibility of putting the #5 seed in play for the Wolves. But Memphis doesn't have a cakewalk either, so for anyone trying to keep the door open for the #4 seed, the Laker win tonight was a good thing!

But as you said, first things first. The home game against Detroit is the toughest home game the Wolves have left. Hopefully they don't surprise the Wolves like the last time they met up...

Tim, I was pulling for the Lakers last night (that doesn't happen very often!). As I said in my previous post, we're just a game behind Memphis in my projection, and we move ahead of them if we can upset them in our matchup. There seems to be something wrong in Memphis, so this is not far fetched. There's even a chance now for a 4-way tie for 5th with Memphis, Clippers, Warriors and us, and while it's a complicated tiebreaker (need to add up all 4 teams' record against the other 3), I think we might win it and finish 5th. It was a good outcome last night.

[FNG]

Jace Frederick tweeted out the leaders in net rating since January 22 (not a small sample size):

Aaron Wiggins: 15.6
Rudy: 14.8
SGA: 14.3
Conley: 12.7
Naz: 12.7

3 of the top 5! Playoff Ant is still our best chance for a playoff run, but it's great to see 3 important role players showing up in net rating with the likes of SGA.

[FNG]

No change in my playoffs projection with no upsets last night...Wolves still sit 8th (tied with Golden State). But they are also just a game behind the Clippers and the mysteriously fading Grizzlies...a win in Memphis in a couple weeks could put us ahead of them.

But the impending suspensions could hurt us. Hopefully Naz and DiVo just miss the Denver game, although that might cost us a potential anti-Klunker. More concerning is the fact that Ant is only one tech away from getting another suspension. It would be very Wolvesian for him to get suspended for a winnable game against Brooklyn, and for us to get a Klunker that dooms us to 8th.

[BloopOracle]

Clippers beat the Magic on the road tonight, we need the Grizzlies to falter against the Celtics

[FNG]

Clippers beat the Magic on the road tonight, we need the Grizzlies to falter against the Celtics

And they are...down 13 to the Celtics with 6 to go despite Jaylen Brown being out. Memphis is in a free fall and very easily could have a Klunker tomorrow night on a back to back against the Warriors that would drop them into a tie with us in my forecast at 47 wins. However, I don't know who to cheer for in that one, because an Anti-Klunker for the Warriors would move them a game ahead of us with 48 projected wins. What a finish this is going to be!

[Phenom]

I'm pulling for GS over Memphis tomorrow. Wolves won't have the tiebreaker break against either but have a say still with one more against Memphis this season. They now represent the best chance for the Wolves to overtake the 6th seed.

[Phenom]

Tied with Memphis for 6th. The standings continue to evolve.

[FNG]

A lot of movement last night with anti-klunkers for the Wolves and Warriors. The Grizzlies have now dropped to 8th in my forecast, and the Wolves are tied with the Warriors for 6th. Here's what I have:

OkC: Duh
2. Houston, Lakers: 51 (tiebreaker will be determined when they play each other)
4. Denver 50
5. Clippers 49 (I have the winning their next 6...hope I'm wrong)
6, Warriors 48 (hold the tiebreaker over us)
7. Wolves 48
8. Memphis 47

There's then a huger dropoff to the 4 teams competing for 9th and 10th, but i think it will be Sac-Town and Dallas.
6th is okay, but if we can beat the Dame-less Bucks, we move to 5th tied with the Clips (and our tie breaker). And if Cool is right and we run the table, we might be tied with Denver for 4th...and we have the tiebreaker.

Run the table and we may have home court advantage!
^