Minnesota Sports Forum

monsterpile wrote:

lipoli390 wrote:The Mavs were eliminated from play-in contention tonight with a loss to the 39-42 Bulls in Dallas. Luka was 0-5 from behind the arc. Interesting to see Luka this season without Brunson. Maybe the Wolves can swap KAT for Luka - one loser for another. :)

I see Luka sat after the first quarter. Weird.

You know the guy I have wondered about this season without Brunson is...Jason Kidd. Mavs did have injuries this year but they had those last year too and were up and down before the trade. I gave Kidd props last year but that team seemed to be another somewhat disappointing one that didn't seem to be living up to their talent.

It's dumb but the Mavs have a top 10 protected pick, so the Mavs decided losing tonight and being in 10th (they still drop if 11-14 move up in the lottery) is more important than being in the play in. The final 2 shots tonight for the Mavs were wolves legends, McKinley Wright and AJ Lawson

I know this comment is prompted by my Wolves fandom and my interest in improving our playoff position, but the lineup the Suns put out on the court last night against the Lakers was shameful. Their highest scoring starter was Shamet at 8.5 PPG. But the Lakers still only led by 7 after 3 quarters despite playing the Suns' JV. I don't think the Lakers are good enough to beat the Suns if they play their starters, so that may have cost us a chance at the 7 seed...sad.

Further, is there any truth to the rumor that the Mavs asked Mark Madsen to come out of retirement last night to help them tank their game? Who knows. But they clearly had no interest in making the playoffs.

Sad night in the NBA.

FNG wrote:I know this comment is prompted by my Wolves fandom and my interest in improving our playoff position, but the lineup the Suns put out on the court last night against the Lakers was shameful. Their highest scoring starter was Shamet at 8.5 PPG. But the Lakers still only led by 7 after 3 quarters despite playing the Suns' JV. I don't think the Lakers are good enough to beat the Suns if they play their starters, so that may have cost us a chance at the 7 seed...sad.

Further, is there any truth to the rumor that the Mavs asked Mark Madsen to come out of retirement last night to help them tank their game? Who knows. But they clearly had no interest in making the playoffs.

Sad night in the NBA.

It's worth mentioning that the Bulls were sitting guys and Caruso only played 18 mins. Meanwhile the Mavs had guys putting up some nice games (offensively) for guys that hadn't been playing. For example Morris had played a total of 35 minutes for the Mavs since coming over in the trade. He had 13 points in 8 minutes missing only 1 shot. Lol Wright and Lawson took the last 2 shots but they had nice shooting nights before that. Sometimes it's easy to forget that while at the end of the year teams are fighting for the playoffs and some end of the roster guys play...those guys are often playing for their careers and getting an opportunity they may not have gotten all season. Those guys aren't just laying down at the end of the season they are likely THRILLED to be playing and trying to ball out because quite frankly this could be their shot to stay in the league.

Four teams - Wolves, Pelicans, Lakers & Clippers could end the season with the same record. If that happens, what will the final playoff seeding be given all the various tie-breakers?

Ask and ye shall receive:

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/36069090/nba-playoff-schedule-highlights-2023

It doesn't say anything about the Clippers potentially tying but just in case, I looked this up, and it looks like we have the tiebreaker over the Clippers.

https://clutchpoints.com/clippers-news-kawhi-leonard-russell-westbrook-tiebreaker-situation-entering-final-days-nba-season

So we could still get the 6th seed? Is that possible? The odds must be pretty long though, right?

lipoli390 wrote:Four teams - Wolves, Pelicans, Lakers & Clippers could end the season with the same record. If that happens, what will the final playoff seeding be given all the various tie-breakers?

Wolves would on top in that scenario

Just looked it up and the Clips have Portland next. That four-way ain't happening.

EDIT: Plus Phoenix who is already locked in and resting everybody.

SameOldNudityDrew wrote:Ask and ye shall receive:

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/36069090/nba-playoff-schedule-highlights-2023

It doesn't say anything about the Clippers potentially tying but just in case, I looked this up, and it looks like we have the tiebreaker over the Clippers.

https://clutchpoints.com/clippers-news-kawhi-leonard-russell-westbrook-tiebreaker-situation-entering-final-days-nba-season

So we could still get the 6th seed? Is that possible? The odds must be pretty long though, right?

Yep. It happens if

Wolves win out
Lakers lose to the Jazz
Clippers lose to the trailblazers and Suns

Lakers have Utah, and they've also waved the white flag.

If we win the next two games, it really looks like it'll be us and the Lakers in the 7-8 game, and if we lose either of them, it'll be us against OKC to play the loser of Lakers-Pels to get the 8th seed. We either need three straight wins to lock in the 7th seed or 3 out of 4 to lock in the 8th. I think that's basically the deal now.

EDIT: Obviously, if we're going to get the 8th seed, it's not just 3 out of 4 we'd need to win, but specifically, we'd only be able to lose one of the next two games, and then we'd need to win the next two lose-and-go-home games. That will be tough, so it's definitely WAY better to win these next two games and then try to beat the Lakers, and if we fail there, we'd at least have one more chance.