Playoffs discussion
Re: Playoffs discussion
Hawks up 15 over GS late in the 3rd. Wolves still have a shot at top 6.
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rapsuperstar31
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Re: Playoffs discussion
This may have already been touched upon earlier, I haven' read the whole thread. So having the better record over Golden State and the Clippers is the easiest way to getting the 6th seed, but what if there is a three way tie between the Wolves, Golden State, and the Clippers for the 6th seed? The Wolves have the tiebreaker over the Clippers 3-0, the Warriors have the tiebreaker over the Wolves 3-1, and the Clippers currently have the tiebreaker over the Warriors 3-0 and they have one more game against each other the last game of the year.
Re: Playoffs discussion
I believe it would be conference record in a 3 way tie since they are not all in the same division. The Wolves have by far the best conference record and would be 6th.rapsuperstar31 wrote: ↑Sat Mar 22, 2025 8:40 pm This may have already been touched upon earlier, I haven' read the whole thread. So having the better record over Golden State and the Clippers is the easiest way to getting the 6th seed, but what if there is a three way tie between the Wolves, Golden State, and the Clippers for the 6th seed? The Wolves have the tiebreaker over the Clippers 3-0, the Warriors have the tiebreaker over the Wolves 3-1, and the Clippers currently have the tiebreaker over the Warriors 3-0 and they have one more game against each other the last game of the year.
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SameOldNudityDrew
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Re: Playoffs discussion
Man, I'd really like to get the 6th seed!
The obvious reason is to avoid the play-in game(s). Whoever else is in the 7-8 matchup will be no pushover, and a loss would put us in an elimination game, and we've got a history of losing to inferior teams right now. At that point, getting knocked out of the play-in games would be a disaster, but even if we win, our reward would be the Thunder. Yeesh.
The other reason to really want to get to 6 is to avoid the Rockets who look like they're closing in on #2. We struggle against good defensive teams and I honestly would rather take our chances against Denver, Memphis, or LA than Houston at this point.
I hope those two losses were a freakin' wake up call and this team wins out by treating every game like we're already in the playoffs, because in a sense, we are.
The obvious reason is to avoid the play-in game(s). Whoever else is in the 7-8 matchup will be no pushover, and a loss would put us in an elimination game, and we've got a history of losing to inferior teams right now. At that point, getting knocked out of the play-in games would be a disaster, but even if we win, our reward would be the Thunder. Yeesh.
The other reason to really want to get to 6 is to avoid the Rockets who look like they're closing in on #2. We struggle against good defensive teams and I honestly would rather take our chances against Denver, Memphis, or LA than Houston at this point.
I hope those two losses were a freakin' wake up call and this team wins out by treating every game like we're already in the playoffs, because in a sense, we are.
Re: Playoffs discussion
This is a really odd week. The Wolves played and won on Friday. They'll play at the Pacers on Monday, but don't play again until NEXT Friday when they host the Suns. One game in one week?!? (Yeah, one of those Friday games should count as part of the seek...). So the Wolves get to sit back and watch how the standings change for most of the week!
And what a great start last night to the "Standings Watch". The Warriors lost, moving the Wolves a half game back of the #6 seed. The Kings lost, moving them even further back in the rearview mirror -- not much chance of the Wolves falling below the #8 seed. And the Lakers, with Doncic and LeBron back, got hammered at home by the Bulls -- leaving an outside shot open for moving even further up the playoff ladder!
And, so, for the remainder of the week, here is how the standings could change:
- Clippers at #7, just percentage points ahead of the Wolves, host the Thunder and start a 4-game road trip at New York, all before Friday. They could lose both those games, slipping behind the Wolves, even if the Wolves lose at the Pacers.
- Warriors at #6, a half game ahead of the Wolves, started a 6-game road trip last night with a loss to the Hawks. They play just one game before Friday - the Butler revenge game at Miami. Not sure I like our chances of moving ahead of the Warriors this week, but it's possible.
And there are teams in the West's top 5 that are free-falling! The Griz, Lakers and Nuggets have all been struggling, and all have challenging schedules remaining. Home court in the first round for the Wolves is still a possibility! But not only will it require "no more klunkers", the Wolves will need to steal a game or two when they play the Griz and Nuggets.
A win at the Pacers tomorrow night would be a great start for this last playoff push.
And what a great start last night to the "Standings Watch". The Warriors lost, moving the Wolves a half game back of the #6 seed. The Kings lost, moving them even further back in the rearview mirror -- not much chance of the Wolves falling below the #8 seed. And the Lakers, with Doncic and LeBron back, got hammered at home by the Bulls -- leaving an outside shot open for moving even further up the playoff ladder!
And, so, for the remainder of the week, here is how the standings could change:
- Clippers at #7, just percentage points ahead of the Wolves, host the Thunder and start a 4-game road trip at New York, all before Friday. They could lose both those games, slipping behind the Wolves, even if the Wolves lose at the Pacers.
- Warriors at #6, a half game ahead of the Wolves, started a 6-game road trip last night with a loss to the Hawks. They play just one game before Friday - the Butler revenge game at Miami. Not sure I like our chances of moving ahead of the Warriors this week, but it's possible.
And there are teams in the West's top 5 that are free-falling! The Griz, Lakers and Nuggets have all been struggling, and all have challenging schedules remaining. Home court in the first round for the Wolves is still a possibility! But not only will it require "no more klunkers", the Wolves will need to steal a game or two when they play the Griz and Nuggets.
A win at the Pacers tomorrow night would be a great start for this last playoff push.
Re: Playoffs discussion
Unfortunately, I don’t see the Wolves avoiding the play-in. The Wolves are competing with two teams, the Clippers and Warriors, for the 6th spot. Right now, we’re a half game behind the Warriors and percentage points behind the Clippers. Looking at the Wolves schedule I only see five games we should expect them to win (which includes all their remaining home games). To finish better than 5-5 they’ll have to win some road games that will be tough to win. Earlier in the season I would have considered the road games against the Nets an easy win but the Nets are playing pretty well lately. Indiana tomorrow night will be a tough one. We’ve shown we can beat Denver on the road but after we trounced them the last game I think theyNuggets will be especially fired up and very hard to beat in Denver.
Meanwhile, I think the Warriors have an easier schedule than the Wolves do. I don’t think the Clippers have a tougher schedule than us. I still believe the Wolves are more talented than the Clippers or Warriors. Of course, that suggests we should already be well ahead of both teams in the standings, which we’re not. After 8 wins in a row I was thinking that this team had turned the corner and could be expected to play up to their potential the rest of the season, in which case a 6th place finish seemed inevitable. Unfortunately, those two recent losses to bad teams were a reminder that there’s still something fundamentally wrong with this team, which means it’s likely this team will continue to fall short of its full potential during this final 10 game stretch.
I’m expecting a 7th or 8th place finish, which will put us in the play-in tournament where anything can happen. I hope I’m wrong. This has been a tough team to assess and predict this season so I wouldn’t be shocked if they won 8 of their remaining 10. Right now, I’m thinking we end up going 5-5 or 6-4 and I don’t see us securing the 6th slot unless we can win at least 7 of our remaining 10 games.
Meanwhile, I think the Warriors have an easier schedule than the Wolves do. I don’t think the Clippers have a tougher schedule than us. I still believe the Wolves are more talented than the Clippers or Warriors. Of course, that suggests we should already be well ahead of both teams in the standings, which we’re not. After 8 wins in a row I was thinking that this team had turned the corner and could be expected to play up to their potential the rest of the season, in which case a 6th place finish seemed inevitable. Unfortunately, those two recent losses to bad teams were a reminder that there’s still something fundamentally wrong with this team, which means it’s likely this team will continue to fall short of its full potential during this final 10 game stretch.
I’m expecting a 7th or 8th place finish, which will put us in the play-in tournament where anything can happen. I hope I’m wrong. This has been a tough team to assess and predict this season so I wouldn’t be shocked if they won 8 of their remaining 10. Right now, I’m thinking we end up going 5-5 or 6-4 and I don’t see us securing the 6th slot unless we can win at least 7 of our remaining 10 games.
Re: Playoffs discussion
Lip, Brooklyn has lost 6 of their last 7 and only have 23 wins on the season...if we can't beat them twice, we don't even belong in the play in. And Philly has lost 6 of their last 7 and don't seem very interested in winning games. So that's 3 wins. The Pistons have been a pleasant surprise this season, but they are only 5-5 in their last 10 with a very easy schedule (a lot of Washington and Pelicans), so I think we win that game at home. And I think we will beat the Suns twice also, because we seem to own them this season and last playoffs. So that's six games that we should be at least 5 point favorites. I agree with you that Denver is going to be looking for revenge against us and should handle us pretty easily. But along the same lines, I think they may have the Pacers game circled on their calendars after their poor showing last week. I still think we lose in Indy, but an upset there could give us a 7-3 finish. Memphis lost Clark and Ja is nursing a bad hamstring, and we don't know when Curry will be back...they're going to reevaluate him tomorrow. I guess my conclusion is anything can happen, but the most likely finish is 6th through 8th, with a chance at 5th if Ja is out for a few games.
Re: Playoffs discussion
I would have preferred a Nuggets loss tonight, buy maybe their win will start the tremendous slide for the Rockets that FNG has been predicting...
The Clippers almost pulled off the victory against the Thunder, who were missing J-Dub and Chet. Whew! That puts the Wolves back in the 7th spot. While the KOM is not expecting a Wolves win tomorrow night at the Pacers, it sure would help offset the klunker they had against the Pacers last week.
The Clippers almost pulled off the victory against the Thunder, who were missing J-Dub and Chet. Whew! That puts the Wolves back in the 7th spot. While the KOM is not expecting a Wolves win tomorrow night at the Pacers, it sure would help offset the klunker they had against the Pacers last week.
Re: Playoffs discussion
I've been a Debbie Downer over the last four games, but somehow the 6th seed is well and truly still within our grasp.
GSW about to drop a game at Miami and play their next four on the road against New Orleans, San Antonio, Memphis and the Lakers. Steph likely to return next game, but could be rested for another game. Then its home against Denver and Houston. Followed by at Phoenix, vs SAS, at Portland and their last game vs LAC at home.
LAC play tomorrow at the Knicks so dust off your KAT jerseys and paint them orange. They then play the following three games away at Cleveland, Brooklyn and Orlando. Then it's a home stretch of five games against western conference teams which includes Dallas twice, New Orleans, San Antonio and Houston. Followed by their last two away at Sacramento and Golden State.
The Wolves control their own destiny, but cannot afford to drop many more games.
GSW about to drop a game at Miami and play their next four on the road against New Orleans, San Antonio, Memphis and the Lakers. Steph likely to return next game, but could be rested for another game. Then its home against Denver and Houston. Followed by at Phoenix, vs SAS, at Portland and their last game vs LAC at home.
LAC play tomorrow at the Knicks so dust off your KAT jerseys and paint them orange. They then play the following three games away at Cleveland, Brooklyn and Orlando. Then it's a home stretch of five games against western conference teams which includes Dallas twice, New Orleans, San Antonio and Houston. Followed by their last two away at Sacramento and Golden State.
The Wolves control their own destiny, but cannot afford to drop many more games.