West Team to Fear

[Lipoli390]

Teams in the West I fear the most:

1. Clippers: The Wolves are in a dog fight with the Clippers, Nuggets and OKC for the top spot in the West. Any one or all of those three teams could end up passing the Wolves in the standings, but the Clippers are the one team among those three I fear the most. They are loaded offensively with four future hall-of-famers (Kawhi, PG, Harden, Westbrook). Kawhi, Harden and PG are prolific scorers who can score in multiple ways. Harden and Westbrook have proven to be triple-double machines over their respective careers. The Clippers also have other talented players in Zubac and Powell. I wasn’t sure things would come together after the Harden acquisition, but that acquisition seems to be meeting the lofty expectations of the Clippers’ front office with the Clippers one of the hottest teams in the League over the past month. I’m not writing off the Nuggets or OKC as strong contenders for the top spot; I simply view the Clippers as the most formidable and dangerous to the Wolves hopes of securing the top seed in the West.

2. Nuggets: I actually feel pretty good about the Wolves chances of staying ahead of the Nuggets and prevailing over them in the playoffs. The Wolves put up a tough fight against the Nuggets in last season’s playoffs and we’re much better this season. We’ve played them well this season and the Nuggets appear to be struggling. But I still fear them because they’re the defending champions and they still have Jokic who is arguably the best player on the planet.

3. OKC: They’re young and appear to be faltering, but they’ve been tough on the Wolves this season, most recently beating us at home. And they remain only a half game behind the Wolves in the standings. So I think they’re a team to be concerned about if not feared.

4. Mavs: This one may surprise a lot of you, but I think the Mavs are a team to worry about. They are loaded with scoring talent having Doncic, Kyrie and Tim Hardaway on their roster. They’re 7 games over .500, but keep in mind that their second best player, Kyrie, has missed 18 of their 53 games while Doncic has missed 8 and Tim Hardaway 3. In contrast, Edwards has missed only 3 games and Conley 5 games while KAT and Rudy have each missed only 1 game. The Mavs improved their roster significantly by acquiring PJ Washington and Daniel Gafford. They’ve won four in a row and just blew out OKC. If Jokic isn’t the best player in the NBA, then Doncic is. I worry about a first-round matchup against the Lakers because of AD, LeBron and the horrendous officiating bias in favor of the Lakers. I also worry about a first-round matchup against the Pelicans because they’re talented and we don’t have an answer for Zion if he’s playing and healthy. But I fear the Mavs as a first-round matchup.

[Phenom]

I'm interested to see how the Wolves continue to match up with Phoenix. The first matchup came on a back to back, on the road, after an intense game in GS. I think possibly the biggest weakness the Wolves defense has is against teams that can dominate the midrange. Booker and Durant are some of the best to ever do that.

That said, there are no cupcakes in the West playoffs. If the Wolves make it through they will deserve it and have earned it.

[Coolbreeze44]

The thing with the Clippers is can they stay healthy. History says no and I anticipate them having a lot of man-games missed the rest of the way. The Mavericks are no concern of mine whatsoever. For me it's mainly the Nuggets and will probably come down to the 3 head to head matchups remaining.

[KiwiMatt]

Clippers for me. But as Cool mentioned, can they stay healthy? Also the Pelicans, depending on Zions health. And the Suns, once again depending on Beal, Booker and Durant's health. Those three teams I'd be nervous about facing.

I'm honestly also weirdly nervous about LAL and GSW who will likely be play in teams. More so the officiating that would come in a series against either.

I think we match up well against Dallas, Denver, Kings and even OKC.

[Lipoli390]

The thing with the Clippers is can they stay healthy. History says no and I anticipate them having a lot of man-games missed the rest of the way. The Mavericks are no concern of mine whatsoever. For me it's mainly the Nuggets and will probably come down to the 3 head to head matchups remaining.

Yep, it’s health with the Clippers. I think you’re right about missed man games the rest of the season. But the important question is whether Kawhi, Paul George and James Harden are healthy in the playoffs. That’s what I fear.

[Q-is-here]

Sacramento and OKC might scare me the least. Sacramento has lost a bit of their mojo from last year. As for OKC, I think they are too reliant on SGA and it gets really hard to win with just one alpha scorer. I think the officiating will be a bit less kind to him in the playoffs and it gives our defense a full series to really focus on slowing him down.

The others ***if fully healthy*** absolutely scare me: Clippers, Dallas, Phoenix, and New Orleans for sure with Denver just behind them. And yeah, I don't want to see Golden State or L.A. Lakers since the entire NBA media and business complex will be rooting for them to upset us in the first round.

[Lipoli390]

Sacramento and OKC might scare me the least. Sacramento has lost a bit of their mojo from last year. As for OKC, I think they are too reliant on SGA and it gets really hard to win with just one alpha scorer. I think the officiating will be a bit less kind to him in the playoffs and it gives our defense a full series to really focus on slowing him down.

The others ***if fully healthy*** absolutely scare me: Clippers, Dallas, Phoenix, and New Orleans for sure with Denver just behind them. And yeah, I don't want to see Golden State or L.A. Lakers since the entire NBA media and business complex will be rooting for them to upset us in the first round.

Q - I was just about to post my list of likely playoff teams that scare me the least and the Kings are at the top of that list followed by Golden State. You make a good point about OKC’s over-reliance on SGA. That fact plus their youth make them less of a concern for me than the Clippers and the other teams you listed.

[Carlos Danger]

Teams in the West I fear the most:

1. Clippers: The Wolves are in a dog fight with the Clippers, Nuggets and OKC for the top spot in the West. Any one or all of those three teams could end up passing the Wolves in the standings, but the Clippers are the one team among those three I fear the most. They are loaded offensively with four future hall-of-famers (Kawhi, PG, Harden, Westbrook). Kawhi, Harden and PG are prolific scorers who can score in multiple ways. Harden and Westbrook have proven to be triple-double machines over their respective careers. The Clippers also have other talented players in Zubac and Powell. I wasn’t sure things would come together after the Harden acquisition, but that acquisition seems to be meeting the lofty expectations of the Clippers’ front office with the Clippers one of the hottest teams in the League over the past month. I’m not writing off the Nuggets or OKC as strong contenders for the top spot; I simply view the Clippers as the most formidable and dangerous to the Wolves hopes of securing the top seed in the West.

2. Nuggets: I actually feel pretty good about the Wolves chances of staying ahead of the Nuggets and prevailing over them in the playoffs. The Wolves put up a tough fight against the Nuggets in last season’s playoffs and we’re much better this season. We’ve played them well this season and the Nuggets appear to be struggling. But I still fear them because they’re the defending champions and they still have Jokic who is arguably the best player on the planet.

3. OKC: They’re young and appear to be faltering, but they’ve been tough on the Wolves this season, most recently beating us at home. And they remain only a half game behind the Wolves in the standings. So I think they’re a team to be concerned about if not feared.

4. Mavs: This one may surprise a lot of you, but I think the Mavs are a team to worry about. They are loaded with scoring talent having Doncic, Kyrie and Tim Hardaway on their roster. They’re 7 games over .500, but keep in mind that their second best player, Kyrie, has missed 18 of their 53 games while Doncic has missed 8 and Tim Hardaway 3. In contrast, Edwards has missed only 3 games and Conley 5 games while KAT and Rudy have each missed only 1 game. The Mavs improved their roster significantly by acquiring PJ Washington and Daniel Gafford. They’ve won four in a row and just blew out OKC. If Jokic isn’t the best player in the NBA, then Doncic is. I worry about a first-round matchup against the Lakers because of AD, LeBron and the horrendous officiating bias in favor of the Lakers. I also worry about a first-round matchup against the Pelicans because they’re talented and we don’t have an answer for Zion if he’s playing and healthy. But I fear the Mavs as a first-round matchup.

I've posted similar before, but we are literally 7-3 against those teams based on my count:

1-0 against Clippers
1-0 against Nuggets
2-2 against OKC
3-1 against Mavs

7-3 combined record. I realize that the playoffs can be a different result. But I certainly find some comfort in the fact that we have shown we can not only play with the best teams, but get the best of them.

[Coolbreeze44]

Sacramento and OKC might scare me the least. Sacramento has lost a bit of their mojo from last year. As for OKC, I think they are too reliant on SGA and it gets really hard to win with just one alpha scorer. I think the officiating will be a bit less kind to him in the playoffs and it gives our defense a full series to really focus on slowing him down.

The others ***if fully healthy*** absolutely scare me: Clippers, Dallas, Phoenix, and New Orleans for sure with Denver just behind them. And yeah, I don't want to see Golden State or L.A. Lakers since the entire NBA media and business complex will be rooting for them to upset us in the first round.

Q - I was just about to post my list of likely playoff teams that scare me the least and the Kings are at the top of that list followed by Golden State. You make a good point about OKC’s over-reliance on SGA. That fact plus their youth make them less of a concern for me than the Clippers and the other teams you listed.

I agree with you on Golden State, we are a bad matchup for them. The Lakers on the other hand pose problems with their 6th man, the officials. I wouldn't want to play them for that reason only.

[Lipoli390]

Sacramento and OKC might scare me the least. Sacramento has lost a bit of their mojo from last year. As for OKC, I think they are too reliant on SGA and it gets really hard to win with just one alpha scorer. I think the officiating will be a bit less kind to him in the playoffs and it gives our defense a full series to really focus on slowing him down.

The others ***if fully healthy*** absolutely scare me: Clippers, Dallas, Phoenix, and New Orleans for sure with Denver just behind them. And yeah, I don't want to see Golden State or L.A. Lakers since the entire NBA media and business complex will be rooting for them to upset us in the first round.

Q - I was just about to post my list of likely playoff teams that scare me the least and the Kings are at the top of that list followed by Golden State. You make a good point about OKC’s over-reliance on SGA. That fact plus their youth make them less of a concern for me than the Clippers and the other teams you listed.

I agree with you on Golden State, we are a bad matchup for them. The Lakers on the other hand pose problems with their 6th man, the officials. I wouldn't want to play them for that reason only.

I agree with you completely on why we should fear the Lakers. The officiating bias in their favor is disgusting and it’s a huge factor.