Minnesota Sports Forum

You're not going to win many games when you're out-rebounded 49-37. Granted, they Wolves beat Memphis a couple weeks ago even though the Wolves were dominated on the boards. But that won't happen often.

I was afraid of a let-down last night and that's what happened. It's hard - both physically and mentally - to sustain a winning streak in the NBA. But Wolves loss last night, after building an 18 point lead over Orlando, is unacceptable. I no longer see the Wolves having a legitimate shot at finishing 6th. From this point forward, the Wolves are in a battle for 8th with the Clippers and I feel fairly confident the Wolves will hold onto the 8th position. However, I'm concerned about how the Wolves will perform in the play-in tournament. The Clippers will probably have Paul George back by then and they might even have Kawhi. Either way, they'll be though. And I can't help but think that the Lakers could get hot and knock us. LeBron isn't what he used to be, but he's still LeBron.

Last night was a wake-up call to the Wolves - a reminder the the front office that this team continues to have a serious rebounding problem and a reminder to the players that they still have a lot to prove.

I attended this game and was afraid to start the GDT because of what eventually happened, a poor performance loss that pissed me off. A ton of Wolves fans in attendance, a lot of empty seats for a bad team, and no energy until the end of the 3rd during the run.

Saw Ed Malloy was lead official and told my wife before warmups were done, this was a loss with lots of free throws by Orlando. Watched Malloy listen to PatBev after the 2nd foul, then walk away shaking his head. After the 3rd foul, he didn't want to see him, but PatBev cornered him.
Hero ball needs to be a kangaroo court offense that pays BIG fines. It is the reason they lost.

lipoli390 wrote:You're not going to win many games when you're out-rebounded 49-37. Granted, they Wolves beat Memphis a couple weeks ago even though the Wolves were dominated on the boards. But that won't happen often.

I was afraid of a let-down last night and that's what happened. It's hard - both physically and mentally - to sustain a winning streak in the NBA. But Wolves loss last night, after building an 18 point lead over Orlando, is unacceptable. I no longer see the Wolves having a legitimate shot at finishing 6th. From this point forward, the Wolves are in a battle for 8th with the Clippers and I feel fairly confident the Wolves will hold onto the 8th position. However, I'm concerned about how the Wolves will perform in the play-in tournament. The Clippers will probably have Paul George back by then and they might even have Kawhi. Either way, they'll be though. And I can't help but think that the Lakers could get hot and knock us. LeBron isn't what he used to be, but he's still LeBron.

Last night was a wake-up call to the Wolves - a reminder the the front office that this team continues to have a serious rebounding problem and a reminder to the players that they still have a lot to prove.

I'm not too concerned about this loss. I agree you shouldn't lose when you have an 18-point lead against a last-place team, but there will be nights when the whole team goes cold and that's what happened in the 2nd half...what was it, 17 missed threes in 17 minutes? Give Orlando some credit for a nice comeback, but we won't have a bad shooting quarter like that for awhile.

My biggest fear is what Lip talks about above. I've seen us locked into the 7 spot for a couple weeks now...I never saw us catching Denver, and the Clippers are going to rest their way to the playoffs, ensuring we will meet them at Target Center in the play-in. My concern is the playoffs though. While we have two home-court chances to advance to the playoffs, there may never be 3 play-in potential opponents as good as the ones we are most likely to see. George is almost certain to be back, and we have not fared well against the Clips this season when he plays...and if Kawhi gets added to the mix, it's time to start thinking about that second play-in game, because the Clips will be loaded (and rested). And while I share Lip's concerns about having to face LeBron in a one-game play-in (heck, he just scored 50 a couple nights ago) and they are even scarier if Davis comes back healthy, I'm not convinced the aging Lakers will beat the Pelicans. The Pels were hot until CJ and Ingram got hurt, and both are expected back soon. Even more significantly, Zion is cleared for basketball activities, and by all reports no longer looks like the fat guy we saw in September...dude has gotten himself in shape. I want no part of a JoVal/Zion/Jones/CJ/Ingram starting lineup.

All that said, I'm happy for Minnesota fans who are guaranteed at least 2 home post-season games this season.

While I agree we shouldn't be losing to Orlando (especially twice in one season), let's not overlook the impact injuries had on last night's result. The Wolves have been the beneficiary of good fortune this season...both in terms of their health, and their opponent missing key players in many games. But last night the tables were turned. We were missing Beverley (for most of the game) and JMac, and I would argue that Vando, Ant and Jaden all looked banged up to me last night. Orlando was missing Jonathan Isaac, but he hasn't played all year. And frankly with as poorly as Jalen Suggs has played in his rookie year, I would argue it actually helped Orlando when he got hurt last night and his minutes were replaced by a very effective Markelle Fultz.

Some might roll their eyes when I mention not having JMac as a factor in last night's loss, but he has been playing very well during the win streak and getting 20MPG. He has been an on/off monster the second half of the season, and has even passed up DLo, who had very uncharacteristically led the team in on/off all season until recently. I believe Lip has been a consistent JMac advocate, and while I admired some aspects of his game, I did not consider him a rotation player because of what I perceived to be defensive deficiencies. But in the past couple months he has really won me over with his hustling, disruptive defense...heck, he has averaged almost 3 steals a game in his past 5 games. He's still undersized, but he is a true PG who understands his job is to help our Big Three score the basketball...he knows he doesn't have to necessarily score to earn minutes. I think his injury is minor, and I'm hoping he plays against Miami...especially with PatBev not available.

FNG wrote:

lipoli390 wrote:You're not going to win many games when you're out-rebounded 49-37. Granted, they Wolves beat Memphis a couple weeks ago even though the Wolves were dominated on the boards. But that won't happen often.

I was afraid of a let-down last night and that's what happened. It's hard - both physically and mentally - to sustain a winning streak in the NBA. But Wolves loss last night, after building an 18 point lead over Orlando, is unacceptable. I no longer see the Wolves having a legitimate shot at finishing 6th. From this point forward, the Wolves are in a battle for 8th with the Clippers and I feel fairly confident the Wolves will hold onto the 8th position. However, I'm concerned about how the Wolves will perform in the play-in tournament. The Clippers will probably have Paul George back by then and they might even have Kawhi. Either way, they'll be though. And I can't help but think that the Lakers could get hot and knock us. LeBron isn't what he used to be, but he's still LeBron.

Last night was a wake-up call to the Wolves - a reminder the the front office that this team continues to have a serious rebounding problem and a reminder to the players that they still have a lot to prove.

I'm not too concerned about this loss. I agree you shouldn't lose when you have an 18-point lead against a last-place team, but there will be nights when the whole team goes cold and that's what happened in the 2nd half...what was it, 17 missed threes in 17 minutes? Give Orlando some credit for a nice comeback, but we won't have a bad shooting quarter like that for awhile.

My biggest fear is what Lip talks about above. I've seen us locked into the 7 spot for a couple weeks now...I never saw us catching Denver, and the Clippers are going to rest their way to the playoffs, ensuring we will meet them at Target Center in the play-in. My concern is the playoffs though. While we have two home-court chances to advance to the playoffs, there may never be 3 play-in potential opponents as good as the ones we are most likely to see. George is almost certain to be back, and we have not fared well against the Clips this season when he plays...and if Kawhi gets added to the mix, it's time to start thinking about that second play-in game, because the Clips will be loaded (and rested). And while I share Lip's concerns about having to face LeBron in a one-game play-in (heck, he just scored 50 a couple nights ago) and they are even scarier if Davis comes back healthy, I'm not convinced the aging Lakers will beat the Pelicans. The Pels were hot until CJ and Ingram got hurt, and both are expected back soon. Even more significantly, Zion is cleared for basketball activities, and by all reports no longer looks like the fat guy we saw in September...dude has gotten himself in shape. I want no part of a JoVal/Zion/Jones/CJ/Ingram starting lineup.

All that said, I'm happy for Minnesota fans who are guaranteed at least 2 home post-season games this season.

Pelicans better get some guys back and or win some games or they won't even make the playoffs.

A full strength Sixers had to go to OT to beat Orlando today. That's the 2nd overtime loss for them this month and they also have 3 wins in 7 games in March. It's still a disappointing loss but right now it might be that we lost to a team playing some good basketball.