Minnesota Sports Forum

Dallas won in Washington and Portland is playing pretty well in San Antonio. Doesn't look too good night for Wolves playoff chances.

Mikkeman wrote:Dallas won in Washington and Portland is playing pretty well in San Antonio. Doesn't look too good night for Wolves playoff chances.

Yeah, pretty depressing. Dallas winning in Washington is a killer.

Q12543 wrote:

Mikkeman wrote:Dallas won in Washington and Portland is playing pretty well in San Antonio. Doesn't look too good night for Wolves playoff chances.

Yeah, pretty depressing. Dallas winning in Washington is a killer.

The Portland win (assuming they hang on) is a bigger killer. With the exception the Wolves play Portland 3 more times...

Portland wins don't matter as much because we have the ability to make up 3 games on them if we take care of business when we play them. Sadly we are not chasing them. We are chasing Denver.

khans2k5 wrote:Portland wins don't matter as much because we have the ability to make up 3 games on them if we take care of business when we play them. Sadly we are not chasing them. We are chasing Denver.

Yes. Just read that Clippers will opt to rest both Griffin and Jordan in their next game against Denver. Propability for catching Denver is dropping...

Update to my win estimate as well. Originally I 'predicted' (in reality I more or less hoped) following line for already played games (actual result after arrow):

Dallas - W -> W
@ Houston - W/L -> L
@ Sacramento - W -> W
@ Utah - W/L -> W
@ San Antonio - L -> L
Clippers - W/L -> W
Warriors - W/L -> W
@ Milwaukee - W/L -> L
Washington - W/L -> W
@ Boston - L -> L

So Wolves are one win ahead even my optimistic win prediction. For remaining schedule my latest expected result after arrow.

@ Miami - W/L Miami's winning streak ended and I expect that they won't continue to play as well as during that streak. I also won't expect that they would hit again 15 three pointers against us. Should be winnable game for Wolves.
@ New Orleans - W/L This one won't be easy even tough New Orleans could really use more outside shooting. Both Boogie and Davis have had monster games against Wolves in past and since New Orleans doesn't have their own pick in next draft, they have no reason to tank. (New Orleans will keep their pick only if it's top3. So probability to keep it is pretty low even if they tank.)
San Antonio - L Unless San Antonio rests all starters I don't see them losing.
@ Lakers - W Lakers traded their best scorer and I expect that they start tanking to have more hope to keep their pick next summer. (they lose it if it's not top3)
@ Portland - L 2nd game of back to back for us. Most probably loss even tough win would put us probably ahead of Portland.
@ Indiana - L -> W/L Indiana has played much better at home. But they have struggled lately little bit there as well and Wolves have improved. So I decided to update this for W/L category.
Lakers - W See previous Lakers game
Sacramento - W Sacramento without Cousins is one of the worst teams in league. Should be easy win for Wolves.
Portland - W Portland is one team that we have change to catch by just winning our remaining three games against them. Lillard and McCollum just seem to be too clutch but we should win them at least home.
@ Golden State - L 2nd game of back to back for us. Even without Durant I don't see Golden State losing this one.
@ Portland - W/L I think this is a game that we have to win to have a any hope for playoffs.
@ Utah - L Second game of back to back for us. Probably no chance.
@ Lakers - W See previous Lakers game
OKC - W/L -> W Since Memphis is currently struggling, I think OKC have secured 6th seed at this point and they will rest Westbrook.
@ Houston - W I expect that this is meaningless game to Houston. They have secured 3rd seed before last game and I expect them to rest Harden.

So after latest games and updates for remaining games, I have Wolves final amount of wins between 35 and 39 with 37 as mean.

Latest ESPN estimates in playoff odds page, have Denver ending with 39 wins, Portland with 36, Wolves with 35 and Dallas with 34. Those numbers haven't yet been modified after last nights games. So I assume Dallas will be back in 35 wins and Portland improves to 37.

http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/page/BPI-Playoff-Odds/espn-nba-basketball-power-index-playoff-oddshttp://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/page/BPI-Playoff-Odds/espn-nba-basketball-power-index-playoff-odds

My latest estimate for other teams in playoff competition will have Denver with 39, Portland with 37.5 and Dallas with 36 wins.

Dang! Portland just keeps racking up anti-klunkers! The KOM has them at 39 wins and Denver at 35 wins.

Big day for the Wolves today. New Orleans is 1 game ahead at 34 wins. An upset would leapfrog the Wolves over New Orleans in the standings. And we desperately need Portland to lose to Miami (like they are suppose to -- no more anti-klunkers for Portland!).

Unfortunately, I am not sure another team has dominated the Wolves this season as much as New Orleans has. We just have had no answer for Anthony Davis... :-(

60WinTim wrote:Dang! Portland just keeps racking up anti-klunkers! The KOM has them at 39 wins and Denver at 35 wins.

Big day for the Wolves today. New Orleans is 1 game ahead at 34 wins. An upset would leapfrog the Wolves over New Orleans in the standings. And we desperately need Portland to lose to Miami (like they are suppose to -- no more anti-klunkers for Portland!).

Unfortunately, I am not sure another team has dominated the Wolves this season as much as New Orleans has. We just have had no answer for Anthony Davis... :-(

Wow, you are still holding out hope, aren't you!? It's pretty much impossible at this stage. The two losses at Miami and Boston along with the strong play of our 8th seed rivals crushed our chances. Oh well, it was fun while it lasted.

The thing that pisses me off is how Portland, Dalllas, and Denver were all able to make some tweaks throughout the season and ended up getting dramatically better as a result. Remember how poor Dallas started? Seth Curry and freakin' Yogi Ferrell to the rescue - voila!

Portland lacks consistent Center production? Swap Plumlee for Nurkic and now suddenly Nurkic is playing like a stud. Of course he is!

Denver unsettled between Nurkic and Jokic (which in hindsight seems like an embarrassment of riches)? Go with Jokic, who proceeds to be one of the most skilled all-around bigs in the league and a passing genius.

Luckily, it appears that Phoenix, Lakers, and Sacramento will be in rebuilding years next season and playing a bunch of youngsters. But otherwise, it's going to be a dogfight again just to get an 8th seed. We need to make a big move or two this offseason. Our roster isn't good enough yet.

I would be more hopeful if we hadn't lost Belly and Lance, or if Wiggins would return from his hiatus. The 8th seed is still within the Wolves grasp, but only if they can take care of their own business, which they have not done the past two games.

60WinTim wrote:I would be more hopeful if we hadn't lost Belly and Lance, or if Wiggins would return from his hiatus. The 8th seed is still within the Wolves grasp, but only if they can take care of their own business, which they have not done the past two games.

Making up 5 games against Denver is a tall task at this point especially when we don't play them in any more games. I just want the Wolves to finish strong.