Minnesota Sports Forum

I'm curious which team you guys feel the Wolves match up favorably against in a playoff series.

If the Wolves make the playoffs they will play the Suns, Warriors or Memphis.

If they play the Suns and Booker and Paul are back as expected I think the Wolves lose 4-1. Just a terrible matchup for the Wolves. (The suns are just a more talented experienced Wolves team)

If the Wolves play the Grizzlies. I think it will be such a fun series. I think it goes 7 and who knows who wins

If the Wolves play the Warriors it comes down to Draymond health. If Draymond plays Wolves lose 4-1. If he doesn't Wolves win 4-2 in my opinion.

Pork, apologies in advance for the long answer, but this is not a simple question. Probably not the answer you are looking for but the simple answer is this...we match up best with whatever team has the most key player(s) out injured. Our team is obviously much improved this season, with the best news that they are winning games they should win...i.e. games against clearly inferior teams, and games against teams missing one or more key starters. But they haven't shown us yet that they can beat a healthy team with a winning record. We still only have one win all season against a team with a winning record and not missing one or more key starters...the impressive win against Miami. I would feel much better about our playoff chances if they could win one more before the end of the season.

The first step of course is getting to the playoffs. While it would be terrific to pass Denver and get the 6th seed, their impressive win last night with Jokic out plus the klunk-o-meter tells us this is unlikely. The next step is winning the first play-in game, and while things can obviously change, the Clippers looked locked into that 8th spot. We can beat them if both George and Kawhi are out, but this season has shown us we don't match up well against them when George plays. So if we're able to beat the winner of NO/Lakers (and it would be a home game), I see the most likely scenario being a 1/8 series against the Suns, and I don't think any reasonable fan would give us much of a chance in that series unless both Paul and Booker were unavailable.

But let's say we win a play-in game against the Clips and earn the 7th seed. What would I be hoping for then?
I don't agree with Kek's conclusion that we would prevail in a series against Golden State even if Draymond were were hurt...the handled us pretty easily in the one game we played them with Draymond out and Curry/Thompson in. I think they would have to be missing either Klay or Curry along with Green for us to beat them in a series.

So that leaves Memphis, and I think that is who I would like to see us matched up against assuming other teams aren't missing their stars. I still don't like our chances against them if they are 100%, but we played well against them in the games they were missing Dillon Brooks. So my answer is Memphis...but without Brooks.

As good as Memphis has been, we have played them really well this year. We have been able to contain Ja until the 2nd half of games. I think we lose to Memphis 4-2. Golden State without Green has been terrible lately going 2-7 in their last 9 games. If Green is out and Curry continues to shoot 3's like a mortal at 38% I think we have chance against them. I would love to play against them and expose Wiggins in the playoffs. I think we get swept to Phoenix, we may win one against them. we just don't match up well with them at all. With injuries to other teams like Green, and if our team stays healthy I think we can be competitive and any given Sunday you never know if we get hot for a few games maybe we can win a series. Ideally guys like Jaden can stay out of foul trouble, but I don't see that happening.

Yep, 35 lucky wins. This team is actually pretty shitty. They just keep getting bailed out by the injury gods. We should put an asterisk next to this year's record since it doesn't count. Just a bunch of fortunate chumps.

I'm expecting a long series no matter who the Wolves play. I trust in Finch and the coaching staff to up the ante when it comes to game planning a series. No proof yet but I feel that is the path.

Expect the Wolves to be the darlings of the playoffs this year.

Phenom's_Revenge wrote:I'm expecting a long series no matter who the Wolves play. I trust in Finch and the coaching staff to up the ante when it comes to game planning a series. No proof yet but I feel that is the path.

Expect the Wolves to be the darlings of the playoffs this year.

I think they can push any of the top three teams to six games, at least. Whether or not they win the series is more opponent-dependent. It also depends on what kind of effort they get from the bench.

I don't like how we matchup against Phoenix whatsoever. Their elite backcourt carves us up and they can take advantage of the holes in our defensive scheme with great perimeter shooting from their wings. I don't like Minnesota's chances, but think they can steal a couple games.

I think Golden State could get upset, especially if Karl-Anthony Towns dominates the interior. Draymond Green's health will be a huge factor as well. They're a team that Minnesota regularly plays well.

I think Memphis is the best bet for a series win. Minnesota should be 4-0 against them in the regular season -- instead they're just 2-2. The Wolves defend Ja Morant as well or better than any other team in the league and have multiple options to slow him down. Where they present the biggest challenge is on the glass. I think that would be a fun series and probably goes six or seven games either way.

I agree with Cam that the Wolves match up best against the Grizzlies and, by far, the worst against the Suns. I also think the Wolves match up well against the Warriors. Moreover, the Warriors have been struggling a lot lately. Green and Thompson are both questionable physically. But I also think the Warriors were playing over their heads until recently. I don't think they're nearly as good as their record and they're currently regressing towards where they should be given their talent. So the Warriors might even be the best draw for the Wolves.

Bottom line is that it's essential that the Wolves finish no lower than 7th. Ideally, they'd pass Denver for the 6th spot. But it's more likely they'll end up in 7th or 8th and face a play-in tournament against the Clippers. If Paul George is back, I'm concerned. If both Paul George and Kawhi are back, then I'm far more concerned. I think we'd ultimately beat the winner of 9 v 10, but then we'd be an 8th seed and face the Suns in the first round.

As I noted in another thread, the Wolves are in critical stretch of games right now. Last night's game was the first of 5 that are all very winnable. The Wolves took care of business convincingly last night. They absolutely have to beat Portland at home these next two games. Then they'll face OKC at home and Orlando on the road to close out this stretch. Last night's win positioned the Wolves well to win all five games in this stretch. That would be huge. Anything less than 4-1 would be a big disappointment. If the Wolves can win their next 4 they'll be 10 games over .500, no worst than 7th and probably at least a game closer to 6th place.