Wolves Playoff Seeding Race Thread

[boxter432]

Phoenix would be a NIGHTMARE for us in the first round in my opinion.

Booker always seems to kill us.

Beal if healthy can do some major damage.

And KD is KD.

Not to mention I’m sure the NBA would love to have a KD team advance in the playoffs and will deploy the influence of the refs against us.

This is the worst matchup they can get.

every match up is the worst they can get if you look lol
PHX - 3 guys that can drop 30 anytime, beat us handily early in the season
Pels - beat them by 1 w/o zion, got mauled with him, and they are hot (tbd now with Ingram out)
Clips - 4 all star/HOF, who clicked when healthy, brook is coming back (we seem to play them well though, unless Harden wakes up off his 12ppg against us)
Sac - 2 quick high scoring guards, triple double monster big man, beat us both times at home
dallas - 2 potential 40point scorers plus a new guy who i shooting almost 80% with them

LAL/GSW - refs, Bron and AD could go off in short bursts, same with steph and klunk.

west is a bloodbath, let's enjoy the show!

[focker]

4 game buffer with clips, "should" have top 3 seed as long as we go around .500.

Clippers have played like shit lately have a tough Schedule coming up

Pacers
@ 76'ers
@ Magic
@ Hornets (easy game)
@ Kings
Nuggets

Back to back nights against the Suns coming up in April as well...

[focker]

Phoenix would be a NIGHTMARE for us in the first round in my opinion.

Booker always seems to kill us.

Beal if healthy can do some major damage.

And KD is KD.

Not to mention I’m sure the NBA would love to have a KD team advance in the playoffs and will deploy the influence of the refs against us.

This is the worst matchup they can get.

every match up is the worst they can get if you look lol
PHX - 3 guys that can drop 30 anytime, beat us handily early in the season
Pels - beat them by 1 w/o zion, got mauled with him, and they are hot (tbd now with Ingram out)
Clips - 4 all star/HOF, who clicked when healthy, brook is coming back (we seem to play them well though, unless Harden wakes up off his 12ppg against us)
Sac - 2 quick high scoring guards, triple double monster big man, beat us both times at home
dallas - 2 potential 40point scorers plus a new guy who i shooting almost 80% with them

LAL/GSW - refs, Bron and AD could go off in short bursts, same with steph and klunk.

west is a bloodbath, let's enjoy the show!

Many of those teams don't want to face us either.

[aztimberwolves]

For those that are afraid of Phoenix, did you catch their loss last night to the Spurs without Wemby??

The Suns are average at best. Top heavy, injury prone roster. No PG at all on the toaster so they turn over the ball a TON and doesn’t play D. Frank Vogel is awful at adjustments.

Of any team, I would want to play Phx. We would trounce them.

[YBBR]

Pelicans easily scare me the most of the possible opponents. Wolves seriously struggle against very physical bigs. Zion has a track record of slaughtering us. So does Jonas at times. Pelicans also are very well rounded team with inside presences, outside shooting, defense stoppers etc... if Ingram and McCollum play to their capabilities that could be an extremely brutal series.

[SHAFA]

Pelicans easily scare me the most of the possible opponents. Wolves seriously struggle against very physical bigs. Zion has a track record of slaughtering us. So does Jonas at times. Pelicans also are very well rounded team with inside presences, outside shooting, defense stoppers etc... if Ingram and McCollum play to their capabilities that could be an extremely brutal series.

Yep. I'd be perfectly fine ending in the 2/3 with Denver #1 and NOP #4. Let Denver potentially have to deal with them in round 2.

[YBBR]

Pelicans easily scare me the most of the possible opponents. Wolves seriously struggle against very physical bigs. Zion has a track record of slaughtering us. So does Jonas at times. Pelicans also are very well rounded team with inside presences, outside shooting, defense stoppers etc... if Ingram and McCollum play to their capabilities that could be an extremely brutal series.

Yep. I'd be perfectly fine ending in the 2/3 with Denver #1 and NOP #4. Let Denver potentially have to deal with them in round 2.

Let's hope. I'd rather take on the Thunder and the Clippers than the Pelicans.

3-1 against the Clippers beat us by a point in their one win.
2-2 against OKC Wolves threw that one game away against them with TOs in the 4th.

I think we would have a good shot against these teams. Denver because it's Denver and the Pelicans scare me a little.

[focker]

4 huge games tonight, with two on them on TNT...

Warriors likely lose to the Heat
Bucks likely beat the Lakers?
Pelican's v Thunder is a toss up
Kings Mavs also a toss up.

I'd likely rather watch Pelicans/Thunder over Kings/Mavs but they need a game that starts at 9:00pm for TV...

[focker]

Golden State loses tonight and they are tied with Houston. unreal....

If the Pelicans lose to the Thunder it will be very hard for us to not finish in the top 3.

[weimy froob]

Pelicans easily scare me the most of the possible opponents. Wolves seriously struggle against very physical bigs. Zion has a track record of slaughtering us. So does Jonas at times. Pelicans also are very well rounded team with inside presences, outside shooting, defense stoppers etc... if Ingram and McCollum play to their capabilities that could be an extremely brutal series.

Yep. I'd be perfectly fine ending in the 2/3 with Denver #1 and NOP #4. Let Denver potentially have to deal with them in round 2.

i'm still all about that first round matchup and hoping they can win that series--but yeah if you're going to look ahead i have no problem with the pelicans in the 4/5 spot and denver in the one seed. pretty sure that the pelicans are going to be in that slot.

[weimy froob]

For those that are afraid of Phoenix, did you catch their loss last night to the Spurs without Wemby??

The Suns are average at best. Top heavy, injury prone roster. No PG at all on the toaster so they turn over the ball a TON and doesn’t play D. Frank Vogel is awful at adjustments.

Of any team, I would want to play Phx. We would trounce them.

you might be right. other teams have been handling them. we'll get to see how the wolves are matching up in a week or two. two games.

[aztimberwolves]

For those that are afraid of Phoenix, did you catch their loss last night to the Spurs without Wemby??

The Suns are average at best. Top heavy, injury prone roster. No PG at all on the toaster so they turn over the ball a TON and doesn’t play D. Frank Vogel is awful at adjustments.

Of any team, I would want to play Phx. We would trounce them.

you might be right. other teams have been handling them. we'll get to see how the wolves are matching up in a week or two. two games.

Living down here, I’ve watched them all year. They are just so inconsistent and make boneheaded plays. Horrible 4 th quarter team. I honestly at this point doubt they get out of the play in.

Frank Vogel will be fired at seasons end. He just isnt the coach for that team.

[SHAFA]

For those that are afraid of Phoenix, did you catch their loss last night to the Spurs without Wemby??

The Suns are average at best. Top heavy, injury prone roster. No PG at all on the toaster so they turn over the ball a TON and doesn’t play D. Frank Vogel is awful at adjustments.

Of any team, I would want to play Phx. We would trounce them.

you might be right. other teams have been handling them. we'll get to see how the wolves are matching up in a week or two. two games.

Living down here, I’ve watched them all year. They are just so inconsistent and make boneheaded plays. Horrible 4 th quarter team. I honestly at this point doubt they get out of the play in.

Frank Vogel will be fired at seasons end. He just isnt the coach for that team.

Would they be where they are if Ishbia didn’t bring Isiah Thomas in to act as an unofficial consigliere?

Moving from Monty to Vogel, from Paul to Beal. It all makes me smile.

[aztimberwolves]

you might be right. other teams have been handling them. we'll get to see how the wolves are matching up in a week or two. two games.

Living down here, I’ve watched them all year. They are just so inconsistent and make boneheaded plays. Horrible 4 th quarter team. I honestly at this point doubt they get out of the play in.

Frank Vogel will be fired at seasons end. He just isnt the coach for that team.

Would they be where they are if Ishbia didn’t bring Isiah Thomas in to act as an unofficial consigliere?

Moving from Monty to Vogel, from Paul to Beal. It all makes me smile.

The Chris Paul Beal trade has been bad. Beal is hurt yet again and they have no floor general But CP3 wasn’t the answer either. He was continually worn down by playoffs and would get hurt and or exposed.

They should have gone after a younger PG instead of the “name” acquisition. Holliday would have been perfect here

Monty had also reached his shelf life here. Booker and Durant both got tired of hm. Monty is the type of coach that can build a good culture but can’t take them over the hump.

[focker]

For those that are afraid of Phoenix, did you catch their loss last night to the Spurs without Wemby??

The Suns are average at best. Top heavy, injury prone roster. No PG at all on the toaster so they turn over the ball a TON and doesn’t play D. Frank Vogel is awful at adjustments.

Of any team, I would want to play Phx. We would trounce them.

you might be right. other teams have been handling them. we'll get to see how the wolves are matching up in a week or two. two games.

Living down here, I’ve watched them all year. They are just so inconsistent and make boneheaded plays. Horrible 4 th quarter team. I honestly at this point doubt they get out of the play in.

Frank Vogel will be fired at seasons end. He just isnt the coach for that team.

They play in Denver tonight and the games on ESPN...

[twolves31]

Living down here, I’ve watched them all year. They are just so inconsistent and make boneheaded plays. Horrible 4 th quarter team. I honestly at this point doubt they get out of the play in.

Frank Vogel will be fired at seasons end. He just isnt the coach for that team.

Would they be where they are if Ishbia didn’t bring Isiah Thomas in to act as an unofficial consigliere?

Moving from Monty to Vogel, from Paul to Beal. It all makes me smile.

The Chris Paul Beal trade has been bad. Beal is hurt yet again and they have no floor general But CP3 wasn’t the answer either. He was continually worn down by playoffs and would get hurt and or exposed.

They should have gone after a younger PG instead of the “name” acquisition. Holliday would have been perfect here

Monty had also reached his shelf life here. Booker and Durant both got tired of hm. Monty is the type of coach that can build a good culture but can’t take them over the hump.

I don't think the Durant trade was a good trade either, at least as far as what has resulted. For a young team that was in the championship game just 3 years ago, to what they have today. Durant's going to be 36 at the start of next season and Beal has been trash/can't stay healthy. They really closed their championship window fast. Not that the players they traded are killing it on other teams, but still yuck.

[weimy froob]

standings/seeding should probably be updated tomorrow. wolves are in second though.

[Dan33185]

standings/seeding should probably be updated tomorrow. wolves are in second though.

Will be tied for 1st with a Denver loss (down by 7 at half).

[weimy froob]

standings/seeding should probably be updated tomorrow. wolves are in second though.

Will be tied for 1st with a Denver loss (down by 7 at half).

half game back if they lose with a chance for first with a win on friday.

[SHAFA]

The only thing that would’ve made last night better would’ve been seeing the Clips choke again.

[weimy froob]

updated standings

1. Denver Nuggets (51-22)
2. Minnesota Timberwolves (50-22)
3. Oklahoma City Thunder (50-22)
4. Los Angeles Clippers (45-27)
5. New Orleans Pelicans (44-28)
6.Dallas Mavericks (43-29)
7. Phoenix Suns (43-30)
8. Sacramento Kings (42-30)
9. Los Angeles Lakers (41-32)
10. Golden State Warriors (38-34)

[SHAFA]

Friday is gonna be fun:

[focker]

Really at this point what we know is:

The top 3 are the top 3, but that order may change. It will come down to the wire.

Seeds 4-9 are very up in the air and those places will come down to the last 2-3 games...

Golden State is likely stuck at 10 or might not get in at all.

[twolves31]

The only thing that would’ve made last night better would’ve been seeing the Clips choke again.

They did, the refs bailed them out by not calling a foul call on Leonard at the end of the game, and than looking at the play after the game and saying our bad we should have called a foul.

[weimy froob]

updated standings

1. Minnesota Timberwolves (51-22)
2. Oklahoma City Thunder (51-22)
3. Denver Nuggets (51-23)
4. Los Angeles Clippers (46-27)
5. New Orleans Pelicans (45-28)
6.Dallas Mavericks (44-29)
7. Phoenix Suns (43-31)
8. Sacramento Kings (42-31)
9. Los Angeles Lakers (41-33)
10. Golden State Warriors (39-34)

Spoiler:

Wolves magic number to clinch a playoff spot (top-6) is now 1.

[Moses Scurry]

The #1 seed should get to pick their opponent, can choose #2-8. Imagine the drama!

[boxter432]

Monk might have torn his MCL, likely done. Kings are in trouble, and there is a chance they miss the playoffs with all the play in teams and hou fighting hard

[shuttlesworth]

Huge, huge win last night. According to basketball reference's projections, the Wolves now have more than 80% chance at a top-two seed. Avoiding the 3-6 matchup would be massive for this team. The 6 seed will probably be the Mavs, who have been playing like a top-3 seed since the trade deadline. I would much, much rather play the Suns, Kings, Lakers, or Warriors -- all pretty middling teams with significant flaws.

[weimy froob]

updated standings

1. Minnesota Timberwolves (51-22)
2. Oklahoma City Thunder (51-22)
3. Denver Nuggets (51-23)
4. Los Angeles Clippers (46-27)
5. New Orleans Pelicans (45-29)
6. Dallas Mavericks (44-29)
7. Phoenix Suns (43-31)
8. Sacramento Kings (42-31)
9. Los Angeles Lakers (41-33)
10. Golden State Warriors (39-34)

[SKOLMN]

another big day for playoff seeding. We’ve got the lowly bulls at home while the nuggets have Cleveland and the thunder play the Knicks. A real chance to put some distance between the competition with 8 games left