Minnesota Sports Forum

FNG wrote: ↑Fri Apr 12, 2024 8:42 am The Kings Klunk at home against the Pels, and create a little separation in my 5-8 forecast:

Dallas 51 wins and destined to face the Clips
Pels 49
Suns 48
Kings 47

So right now it looks like the Wolves would face the Suns if they win out and pass OkC, or the Pels if they finish 3rd. I'm not sure who I want to face. The Suns seem to own us, but the Pels could be really tough if Ingram comes back healthy. I see it as a toss up, so I'm going to cheer for the Wolves to win out and finish second (note we also finish ahead of OkC if they lose one of their two remaining home games, and Dallas is hot right now). That way we know we have home court advantage in the semis if we can win our first round matchup.

Lakers and warriors are also tied for the 8 seed right now, they are heavily in play for us to play them in the first round

kekgeek wrote: ↑Fri Apr 12, 2024 8:47 am

FNG wrote: ↑Fri Apr 12, 2024 8:42 am The Kings Klunk at home against the Pels, and create a little separation in my 5-8 forecast:

Dallas 51 wins and destined to face the Clips
Pels 49
Suns 48
Kings 47

So right now it looks like the Wolves would face the Suns if they win out and pass OkC, or the Pels if they finish 3rd. I'm not sure who I want to face. The Suns seem to own us, but the Pels could be really tough if Ingram comes back healthy. I see it as a toss up, so I'm going to cheer for the Wolves to win out and finish second (note we also finish ahead of OkC if they lose one of their two remaining home games, and Dallas is hot right now). That way we know we have home court advantage in the semis if we can win our first round matchup.

Lakers and warriors are also tied for the 8 seed right now, they are heavily in play for us to play them in the first round

Wow, I had completely disregarded the Warriors and Lakers, kek, because I figured they were destined for a 9-10 matchup. But it now looks like the Warriors and Kings could very likely finish tied for 8th with 47 wins. But I think Sac-town holds the tiebreaker over the Warriors, so I'm still forecasting a Lakers/Warriors 9-10 game.

But I was assuming we would face the #7 seed if we win out and finish 2nd, but of course I was disregarding the play in impact. I still think the Suns would beat the Kings in a 7-8 matchup, and would be our opponent if we finish second. Things could still change though of course in the final weekend.

Who I would prefer to play:

1 Kings - only team I would be giddy to play
2 Warriors - Rudy vs Draymond in a 7 game series would be absolute cinema
3 Lakers - The refs are my biggest fear in this matchup
4 Pelicans - I'm nervous, I can see this one going the full 7 easily
5 Suns - They've smacked us the hardest this year, really hope this isn't who we draw

If Suns lose and Pels win tonight, the Suns would surely rest their guys Sunday to help push the Wolves into the top 2.

Pels hold on. Suns down going into the 4th.

Come on Suns please lose

Edit: noooooooooo

There are a crazy amount of scenarios at play for Sunday. I just want the Wolves to beat PHX and send them to the play in.

Phenom wrote: ↑Sat Apr 13, 2024 12:19 am There are a crazy amount of scenarios at play for Sunday. I just want the Wolves to beat PHX and send them to the play in.

What a clusterf$ck of possible playoff scenarios!

In addition to our potential 3-way divisional tie, there is a likely scenario for another 3-way divisional tie for 8th place between the Kings, Lakers and Warriors!

There is a high probability we draw the Suns as our first round matchup regardless of whether we beat them in the last regular season game. Beat them and we take second, but they would likely win their first play-in game for 7th - our first round matchup. Lose to them and we are third, and they propel to 6th with a Pelicans loss to a highly motivated Laker team - and again, the Suns are our first round matchup.

So, we are better off beating them now to get that monkey off our back (in addition to securing second round home court).

Yeah, what a Sunday it's going to be. While it's likely we end up playing the Suns, there's a good chance we play the Pels if we lose to the Suns and drop to third. I agree that the best outcome is to beat the Suns and likely face them in the first round after they win their play in game (although that would be a difficult first round). But if we lose to the Suns, we drop to third. In that instance we most likely play the Pels, who I think will beat the Lakers tomorrow.

But how about the dream scenario? Nobody here thought the Nuggets would lose to the Spurs last night, so how about a loss to Memphis tomorrow? In that instance, we finish first if we can beat the Suns. In that case we would play whomever emerged from the 8/9 game (Warriors, Lakers or Kings).

So I would say there is a 60% chance we play the Suns, a 35% chance we play the Pels, and a 5% chance we finish first and play whomever finishes 8th.

So,

Go Wolves!

And go Grizzlies!

Here's how the tiebreakers all work out, via ESPN's Andrew Lopez:

All three teams win or lose: 1. Thunder, 2. Timberwolves, 3. Nuggets

Thunder and Timberwolves win, Nuggets lose: 1. Timberwolves, 2. Thunder, 3. Nuggets

Thunder and Nuggets win, Timberwolves lose: 1. Thunder, 2. Nuggets, 3. Timberwolves

Timberwolves and Nuggets win, Thunder lose: 1. Timberwolves, 2. Nuggets, 3. Thunder