Minnesota Sports Forum

rapsuperstar31 wrote: ↑Sun Apr 05, 2026 9:31 pm

Mnwild1128 wrote: ↑Sun Apr 05, 2026 9:19 pm

Phenom wrote: ↑Sat Apr 04, 2026 5:37 pm

Denver has an interesting situation. Would they rather face Minnesota then San Antonio or Houston then OKC? Maybe they don't care.

I don't think it matters. I said before the season Nuggets are making it back to finals this time now that they actually have a full roster around Jokic.

They have to stay healthy, if Gordon goes down again they're toast. Watson is one of their best defenders, and he isn't coming back anytime soon.

I don't use health in my arguments. It is assumed for everyteam they need to stay healthy. If key players get hurt, those teams' chances spike for losing any series. I get really tired of panelists, comnentary personnel making a point then being like "but only if they stay healthy". Like..... duh. It goes without saying.

Mnwild1128 wrote: ↑Mon Apr 06, 2026 2:13 am

rapsuperstar31 wrote: ↑Sun Apr 05, 2026 9:31 pm

Mnwild1128 wrote: ↑Sun Apr 05, 2026 9:19 pm

I don't think it matters. I said before the season Nuggets are making it back to finals this time now that they actually have a full roster around Jokic.

They have to stay healthy, if Gordon goes down again they're toast. Watson is one of their best defenders, and he isn't coming back anytime soon.

I don't use health in my arguments. It is assumed for everyteam they need to stay healthy. If key players get hurt, those teams' chances spike for losing any series. I get really tired of panelists, comnentary personnel making a point then being like "but only if they stay healthy". Like..... duh. It goes without saying.

Yes, but there are serious questions about whether Gordon can stay healthy because his hamstring issue seems to have become chronic. That's the caveat with Denver

Mnwild1128 wrote: ↑Mon Apr 06, 2026 2:13 am

rapsuperstar31 wrote: ↑Sun Apr 05, 2026 9:31 pm

Mnwild1128 wrote: ↑Sun Apr 05, 2026 9:19 pm

I don't think it matters. I said before the season Nuggets are making it back to finals this time now that they actually have a full roster around Jokic.

They have to stay healthy, if Gordon goes down again they're toast. Watson is one of their best defenders, and he isn't coming back anytime soon.

I don't use health in my arguments. It is assumed for everyteam they need to stay healthy. If key players get hurt, those teams' chances spike for losing any series. I get really tired of panelists, comnentary personnel making a point then being like "but only if they stay healthy". Like..... duh. It goes without saying.

Yes injuries can happen to anyone at any time. The chances are significantly higher for Gordon, since they forced him to play through a hamstring injury in the playoffs last season, and he's had multiple hamstring injuries this year missing more than half the season which is more than likely a result of playing through it in that playoff game.

Michael Malone is mentioned A LOT around here as a potential guy for the Wolves to look at after Finch.

He's going to North Carolina.

Hmmm... interesting choice.



[Note: Then again, big-time college hoops is about buying the best players at this point, so it's not like the guy has to do much recruiting beyond touting the UNC brand.]

Sure would like a Blazers win in Denver tonight.

Phenom wrote: ↑Mon Apr 06, 2026 4:09 pm Sure would like a Blazers win in Denver tonight.

We Wolves fans are going to be doing a lot of scoreboard watching (or even watching games we wouldn't normally watch) hoping for the best seeding outcome for our team, and a Blazers win would be terrific! Grant and Sharpe are out for the Blazers, and that's 40 PPG missing, so a win seems unlikely. But the Blazers have won 8 of their last 10 (albeit against a lot of bad teams) and the line is only 7 1/2, so it could happen. I'll be cheering for Portland!

I watched the Lakers lose to Dallas last night, and LeBron almost willed them to the victory we needed to improve hopes of a 3/6 matchup against them. Houston is suddenly playing well again...they've won 6 in a row since their disaster at Target Center. I think most of us had written them off in the race for 3rd, but they could win out and finish with 53 wins, and that could be enough for 3rd place and a matchup with the Wolves. Before the Reeves injury, the Lakers seemed destined to finish 3rd. But now it could be any one of Denver, LA or Houston finishing 3rd. It's important to note that LA has the tiebreaker against both of them, and also would have the 3-way tiebreaker due to being the only division champion. The Lakers have turned what looked like a dull end of season a few days ago into something that is going to have us cheering for certain teams every night...tonight it's "Go Blazers!".

Where would you all rank those matchups for the 3/6 stand off?
As in who do you want to play most of the three teams

I'd go:

Lakers
Houston
Denver

This is with the understanding that Luka and Reaves are expected to miss round 1

AussieWolf3 wrote: ↑Mon Apr 06, 2026 4:48 pm Where would you all rank those matchups for the 3/6 stand off?
As in who do you want to play most of the three teams

I'd go:

Lakers
Houston
Denver

This is with the understanding that Luka and Reaves are expected to miss round 1

I agree, Aussie...with a wide gap between the Lakers and Houston, and a less wide (but still wide) gap between Houston and Denver. I don't yet know if I believe enough in this Wolves' team...it's going to depend a lot on how effective Jaden and Ant are when they return. But getting to the finals two years in a row has me eager to get at least to the second round, and I think we all agree the Lakers are the easiest path to round 2. Unfortunately Denver looks to be our most likely opponent right now, but we've seen in the past few days how quickly things can change!

It'll be Denver. Houston is already a game behind in the loss column, and Denver owns the tie breaker. So, Houston needs to win out AND have Denver lose two games. I don't see either of those scenarios panning out, let alone both of them.

60WinTim wrote: ↑Mon Apr 06, 2026 5:04 pm It'll be Denver. Houston is already a game behind in the loss column, and Denver owns the tie breaker. So, Houston needs to win out AND have Denver lose two games. I don't see either of those scenarios panning out, let alone both of them.

The silver lining is Denver could certainly lose to both OKC and San Antonio. It comes down to the OKC mindset first and foremost. OKC could usher Denver our of their side of the bracket by resting some guys. Then again San Antonio would seemingly like to beat them and send them out of their side. So back to that Blazers game. .