Minnesota Sports Forum

BloopOracle wrote: ↑Tue Mar 11, 2025 2:25 pm Kings got blasted last night, would like to see them continue to falter so our worst case scenario is still 2 cracks in the play-in

How about faltering after Thursday!? They play the Warriors...

FNG wrote: ↑Tue Mar 11, 2025 2:08 pm Tim, I just listened to the Dane Moore forecast where they analyze the Wolves’ last 16 games. It sounds like they have them finishing with 48 wins, same as I have and one more than your 47. I suspect the difference is we have them stealing a win at Indiana that you might have as a loss. We’re on the same page though.

First and foremost, we have to take care of the games against the bottom dwellers…2 each with Utah, Brooklyn and the pelicans plus the Philly game. I think the return of Julius will be helpful in not overlooking these 7 games we should win.

Tomorrow nights game will be a nice barometer on where we stand. We got a healthy roster "tune-up" against the Spurs. Now we take it to Denver. A win would really help in keeping pace with the Warriors.

I agree on the value of Julius. I know many on here don't hold with this perspective, but I am back to believing both Julius and NAZ will be re-signed this offseason.

Typically... top 10 rankings for both Off and Def ratings indicate whether a team has legit deep playoff or championship chops.

The Wolves are now #11 on offense. And #7 on defense. That's really solid and it shows that this team has juice... especially since they're playing pretty well right now. Yet in true Timberwolves fashion... they're still trying to claw out of the play-in.

For what it's worth, the Expected W/L for the Wolves is 40 - 26.

Bad loss by the Clippers. The KOM now has them finishing at 41 wins. 6th seed will come down the Warriors and Wolves, with the Warriors holding the tie breaker.

60WinTim wrote: ↑Tue Mar 11, 2025 9:28 pm Bad loss by the Clippers. The KOM now has them finishing at 41 wins. 6th seed will come down the Warriors and Wolves, with the Warriors holding the tie breaker.

The good news amidst a ridiculously stacked Western Conference (the equivalent Eastern Conference 7th-seeded Atlanta Hawks are 31-34. I mean, how pathetic!) we at least are starting to see daylight between ourselves and the 8-10 seeds. We should get two cracks at it if we are in the play-in.

Tim, That's a couple of anti-klunkers by the Wolves since you cranked up the machine, right? The wins @ Miami and @ Denver have to help the push for that 6th seed!

Huge anti-klunker for the Wolves last night. I don't know where it leaves the Wolves in Tim's KOM (I suspect it gives them a little more cushion over the Warriors for 6th), but in my model it puts them in a 3-way tie for 5th with the Warriors and Rockets at 49 wins. The 3-way tiebreaker rules get a little messy, but I think GS would get the 5th seed based on the better record on games between the three teams. Let's go beat Denver again on April Fools Day and grab that 5th seed all for ourselves!

The KOM has the Wolves in 6th place by a wide margin -- 4 games! Another great thing is the teams at the top (other than the Thunder) are so tightly packed that there will not be very much "resting players" in the final days. So the losses I have down for our closest competitors have a good chance to still be losses when they play those top teams.
[Edit: I should add that if I tweak the KOM so only the Cavs, Celtics and Thunder are in Tier 1, it shows a 3-way tie for the 5th seed between Golden State, Houston and the Wolves, at 49 games! And, yeah, the Wolves wind up at #7 in that scenario... ]

Warriors crushing the Kings right now

BloopOracle wrote: ↑Thu Mar 13, 2025 9:59 pm Warriors crushing the Kings right now

Lakers lost, so a sliver of hope there. Also the Pistons lost, which is solid for the pick. Hopefully Denver can get the Warriors for us a couple times.