Minnesota Sports Forum

Let's see what everyone thinks is going to happen.

We can't forget that the Wolves were one of the best teams all season long, if not the best. The Suns are going to make this a very difficult series unfortunately. But they're not going to shoot the lights out each and every game. We have to make sure we win the games where they are below or just average in shooting. We also have to be physical. One of the Suns weaknesses is depth. Grind it out and set a precedent early on this is going to be a physical series. I think the 4th quarters can be ours. I'm going to take the Wolves in 7, and figure that last game is going to come down to the last 5 minutes.

As long as Finch makes some big adjustments I'll take the Wolves in 7. However this is the least confident I've ever been while predicting a Wolves win

I'm going to agree with both Bloop and Cool and predict the Wolves in 7. As I stated in another thread, we actually shoot better than the Suns. And while turnovers have been a problem for the Wolves, the Suns actually turn the ball over more frequently than we do...not good news for a team going against a disruptive defense like the Wolves.

But as Cool says leading off this thread, depth is a big advantage for the Wolves. Who do you really fear on the Suns' bench? Gordon is known as a shooter, but he's essentially a worse version of Naz Reid...he'll make some three pointers (although not as efficiently as Naz), but he can be exploited on defense (although I would argue Naz is also a better defender). I like Royce O'Neal, but he doesn't scare me. On the other hand, the Wolves' bench has Naz, NAW, SloMo and whichever PG Finchie favors in this series (Monte or JMAc). Our two backup PGs led the team in on/off for the season and are both much better backup PG options than Phx has.

Most of the NBA analysts I listened to on the radio yesterday had this as their favorite first round matchup. I don't disagree...it has the potential to be a barnburner. I'm hearing that we will be the late game on Saturday. Good news, as Ant seems to struggle in afternoon games. And a loud drunken 9PM crowd is going to be good for us. We need to win that one, and follow it up with a win on Monday. There will be a lot of optimism here if we head back to Phx up 2-0.

I expect the Suns to win so I'll take Suns in 6. I won't be surprised if the Wolves come out with a completely different energy and intensity though and beat the Suns either. They haven't been good against the Suns but can actually do it. I think the regular season is kind of a different animal. Guys are more tired, less focused night to night. I think we saw the Wolves C to F games against them so far. So can they be their best when it matters most.

Game 1 is key.

It's one thing for the Suns to gain enormous confidence through three dominant regular season wins.

But if they add stealing homecourt in Game 1 for four games in a row... I'd be legitimately worried about a short series.



[Note: The cool thing about the 2024 Timberwolves is that they've shown to be tougher than possibly any other team in franchise history. They've battled against long odds multiple times (Boston and Denver games come to mind). They've had that other gear that gets them through. Let's hope it's a sign of things to come in the playoffs.]

AbeVigodaLive wrote: ↑Tue Apr 16, 2024 12:17 pm Game 1 is key.

It's one thing for the Suns to gain enormous confidence through three dominant regular season wins.

But if they add stealing homecourt in Game 1 for four games in a row... I'd be legitimately worried about a short series.



[Note: The cool thing about the 2024 Timberwolves is that they've shown to be tougher than possibly any other team in franchise history. They've battled against long odds multiple times (Boston and Denver games come to mind). They've had that other gear that gets them through. Let's hope it's a sign of things to come in the playoffs.]

I agree. I was thinking the same. You lose close maybe you can spark something for a comeback. But another beatdown would be really hard to come back from. I do like this squad also based on how well they have performed against top teams throughout the year. Did we simply get the Wolves worst against the Suns in the prior three games? I think we have to hope that.

This entire Western NBA playoffs is going to be really interesting. Even talking heads thinking that Denver is the heavy favorite. I don't think so. It's more wide open then any other year. Denver can be beat. Anyone can emerge this year.

Wolves win games 1 and 2, loses game 3 and 5, wins games 4 and 6. We get a few day off as the Lakers take OKC to 7 games.

I'm going with Wolves in 6.

rapsuperstar31 wrote: ↑Tue Apr 16, 2024 1:06 pm Wolves win games 1 and 2, loses game 3 and 5, wins games 4 and 6. We get a few day off as the Lakers take OKC to 7 games.

We would most likely draw Denver

Thinking Basketball has us at 64% to win