Minnesota Sports Forum

Back after a short hiatus. Great night for the Wolves. Wolves are 1 win or 1 Clippers loss from clinching the 7 seed at a minimum and of course home games for the play-in if they can't get to 6.

Phenom's_Revenge wrote:Another great day for the Wolves. Huge huge huge game tomorrow. Also Memphis was able to add a game to their lead over Golden State after a klunker against the Spurs. The 6th seed might just be a date with the Warriors. Things are getting very interesting.

I think the Wolves would be much better off playing the Warriors rather than the Grizzlies in the first round. The Warriors have been faltering lately as they are no longer playing over their heads. I never thought their remarkable early success was sustainable given their talent. The Warriors, Jazz and Mavs are the three teams likely to finish in the top five that I think the Wolves could beat in a first-round series. The Wolves will need to finish 5th or 6th to face one of those three teams in the first round. I think the Wolves can be competitive against Memphis, but I don't see them beating Memphis in a series.

Minnesota should be 4-0 against Memphis this season with both of their losses coming after Minnesota led to start the fourth quarter. When healthy, we match up with the Grizzlies very, very well.

Ultimately, I'm not rooting for that first round matchup anymore because they appear locked into the second-seed and I'm still rooting for a top-six seed to avoid the play-in tournament, but I really like the Timberwolves' chances against them in a seven-game series. I think that's largely due to how well Minnesota contains Ja Morant. Whether it's Patrick Beverley, Anthony Edwards, or Jaden McDaniels, they're able to challenge Morant and make life difficult for him.

lipoli390 wrote:

Phenom's_Revenge wrote:Another great day for the Wolves. Huge huge huge game tomorrow. Also Memphis was able to add a game to their lead over Golden State after a klunker against the Spurs. The 6th seed might just be a date with the Warriors. Things are getting very interesting.

I think the Wolves would be much better off playing the Warriors rather than the Grizzlies in the first round. The Warriors have been faltering lately as they are no longer playing over their heads. I never thought their remarkable early success was sustainable given their talent. The Warriors, Jazz and Mavs are the three teams likely to finish in the top five that I think the Wolves could beat in a first-round series. The Wolves will need to finish 5th or 6th to face one of those three teams in the first round. I think the Wolves can be competitive against Memphis, but I don't see them beating Memphis in a series.

The Warriors have been playing without a key player for weeks now. Lately it's without Steph which is a pretty big deal. My opinion is that either conference the team that is healthy and plays as a team could go on a run to the finals over a team that has more high end talent on the roster.

The Warriors have a lot of championship experience on that team. No way do I wanna face them over Memphis.

The Jazz are a team to keep on eye on for possibly slipping to 7th and paving way for the Wolves in top 6.

5 of their last 7 include both LA teams fighting for their lives, Warriors, Grizzlies, and Suns.

Phenom's_Revenge wrote:The Jazz are a team to keep on eye on for possibly slipping to 7th and paving way for the Wolves in top 6.

5 of their last 7 include both LA teams fighting for their lives, Warriors, Grizzlies, and Suns.

Juancho has started some games for them lately. Looking at the box score I guess he started at center for them last night.

Tomorrow Jazz @ Clippers with big implications. A Clippers loss seals a top 7 regular season finish for the Wolves. A Jazz loss keeps the Wolves in reach of 6 or 5.

Interesting development. With Mavericks win over the Lakers, the Mavs are just a game behind the Warriors for 3rd place and the Lakers are now in a tie for 10th with San Antonio.

Phenom's_Revenge wrote:Interesting development. With Mavericks win over the Lakers, the Mavs are just a game behind the Warriors for 3rd place and the Lakers are now in a tie for 10th with San Antonio.

Looks like the Spurs have the tiebreakers so if they remain tied at the end of the season The Spurs would be in and the Lakers out.