Postseason Watch

[Calinks]

The Nuggets make us pay for that Dallas loss.

[winforlose]

The Nuggets make us pay for that Dallas loss.

A while back I said if we beat Denver 48 wins is the magic number. I think the Suns, Griz and either Hornets or Lakers with AD back will beat Denver. Not to mention the any given night theory which might allow a sub .500 to beat them. I still believe 48 is the number and I still believe 48 is doable. That said, I wouldn’t have minded Denver losing tonight .

[collidingNeurons]

The Nuggets make us pay for that Dallas loss.

A while back I said if we beat Denver 48 wins is the magic number. I think the Suns, Griz and either Hornets or Lakers with AD back will beat Denver. Not to mention the any given night theory which might allow a sub .500 to beat them. I still believe 48 is the number and I still believe 48 is doable. That said, I wouldn’t have minded Denver losing tonight .

As suns fan I appreciate the confidence, but beating Denver on a second of a back to back on the road possibly with no CP3 or Cam Johnson won't be an easy accomplishment

[winforlose]

The Nuggets make us pay for that Dallas loss.

A while back I said if we beat Denver 48 wins is the magic number. I think the Suns, Griz and either Hornets or Lakers with AD back will beat Denver. Not to mention the any given night theory which might allow a sub .500 to beat them. I still believe 48 is the number and I still believe 48 is doable. That said, I wouldn’t have minded Denver losing tonight .

As suns fan I appreciate the confidence, but beating Denver on a second of a back to back on the road possibly with no CP3 or Cam Johnson won't be an easy accomplishment

You guys could bench all your starters tonight and run a bench roster against us . It obviously won’t happen, but it is one way to handle the back to back .

[collidingNeurons]

A while back I said if we beat Denver 48 wins is the magic number. I think the Suns, Griz and either Hornets or Lakers with AD back will beat Denver. Not to mention the any given night theory which might allow a sub .500 to beat them. I still believe 48 is the number and I still believe 48 is doable. That said, I wouldn’t have minded Denver losing tonight .

As suns fan I appreciate the confidence, but beating Denver on a second of a back to back on the road possibly with no CP3 or Cam Johnson won't be an easy accomplishment

You guys could bench all your starters tonight and run a bench roster against us . It obviously won’t happen, but it is one way to handle the back to back .

I'm just hoping for a split in the two games which even might be wishful thinking as well as you all have played recently, one thing I do wish the Suns would do is start cutting Booker and Bridges minutes some, no need to be playing 40 plus minutes in games that don't really affect their standings this close to the playoffs

[winforlose]

As suns fan I appreciate the confidence, but beating Denver on a second of a back to back on the road possibly with no CP3 or Cam Johnson won't be an easy accomplishment

You guys could bench all your starters tonight and run a bench roster against us . It obviously won’t happen, but it is one way to handle the back to back .

I'm just hoping for a split in the two games which even might be wishful thinking as well as you all have played recently, one thing I do wish the Suns would do is start cutting Booker and Bridges minutes some, no need to be playing 40 plus minutes in games that don't really affect their standings this close to the playoffs

You guys are so far ahead you could bench everyone for a week and not even notice. Not that you should (except maybe tonight ) but, my priority would be get as healthy as possible for the playoffs.

[shrink]

1.5 games behind Denver, who hosts PHX tonight. Here’s our final 8

vs DAL
@ BOS
@ TOR
@ DEN

@ HOU
vs WAS
vs SAS
vs CHI

[Calinks]

Phoenix trying to get back in this game, Chrs Paul is out here and back playing too but Denver is showing a lot of poise.

[theGreatRC]

1.5 games behind Denver, who hosts PHX tonight. Here’s our final 8

vs DAL
@ BOS
@ TOR
@ DEN

@ HOU
vs WAS
vs SAS
vs CHI

Need 3 if not ALL of our next 4 games. I'm assuming the next 3 after that are tanking, then we have the Bulls who are coming apart as the season ends

[Calinks]

The Suns and their ability to execute is just legendary.

[shrink]

Suns about to beat DEN, so back to 1 game difference. Need to win that game.

[winforlose]

1.5 games behind Denver, who hosts PHX tonight. Here’s our final 8

vs DAL
@ BOS
@ TOR
@ DEN

@ HOU
vs WAS
vs SAS
vs CHI

Need 3 if not ALL of our next 4 games. I'm assuming the next 3 after that are tanking, then we have the Bulls who are coming apart as the season ends

Think of it in terms of losses. Assume we beat Denver (if we don’t none of this is likely to matter,) Denver after losing tonight is at 31. When we beat them 32. We have the tie breaker, so the number is probably 34 or 35 loses. Conservatively, the Wolves need to win 48 and that means 6 of 8. 3 of them are sub .500. That means we need 3 of 5 against above .500 teams and one of those 3 must be Denver. If we take 4 of the 5 that would be better. 47 wins might get there in which case 2 of 5 but that is risky.

[Calinks]

Monty Williams doesn't get enough respect. Last year coach Thibs got crazy praise but Monty is better and deserved more.

Bones Hyland is a stud, wasn't just against us in the preseason.

[shrink]

I had to refresh my memory on NBA tiebreakers for playoffs - I’m used to coin flip tie breakers for lottery balls.

Edit: we’re 2-1 vs DEN. If MIN loses, … (thanks wfl)

Then it goes to the next tie-breaker, which is record within the Division when both teams are in the same Division.

MIN wins that easily .. they are a shocking 11-4 in the division, and DEN is 5-9!

[life_saver]

Suns are just so good in these 4th quarters and clutch time..they just execute things so well. This is where Wolves primarily need to improve if they want to move to next level.

[winforlose]

I had to refresh my memory on NBA tiebreakers for playoffs - I’m used to coin flip tie breakers for lottery balls.

If MIN beats DEN, they will both be 2-2.

Then it goes to the next tie-breaker, which is record within the Division when both teams are in the same Division.

MIN wins that easily .. they are a shocking 11-4 in the division, and DEN is 5-9!

You have it slightly wrong. We are 2-1 against them with wins over Denver on 12/15 and 2/1. If we beat Denver we are 3-1 and have the tie breaker based on head to head. If we lose to Denver we still have the tie breaker based on Division record. The reason the Denver game matters so much is we have one more loss than Denver already and adding another would make it hard to tie them.

[Guidus88]

Jazz are falling! Lost 3 in raw and their next schedule does not seem so easy. They are in the mix as well

[winforlose]

Jazz are falling! Lost 3 in raw and their next schedule does not seem so easy. They are in the mix as well

I understand your excitement, but I want you to understand the situation. We have 32 losses and the Jazz and Mavs have 29. Both teams have a tie breaker over us. That means even if we win out, both teams need to lose 4 games for us to catch them. If we lose even one game then both teams must lose 5 games for us to catch them. Both the Jazz and Mavs have played 74 games which leaves them 8 left. To expect either team to lose half or more and for us to win out is not a high likelihood event.

The Warriors on the over hand are a different story. While their conference record (the tie breaker) is better than ours now, for them to fall far enough where we can catch them that will change. By default their conference record will be worse than ours. They have 26 losses and 8 games left to play. Could they lose 7 or 8 without Curry, that is the question. So far they are 1-3. If they lose 7 we can afford to lose 1, if they lose 8 we can afford to lose 2. Not a likely scenario, but one worth keeping an eye on.

[winforlose]

Anthony Davis is expected to return next week. The Nuggets play the Lakers two more times this season. @ the Lakers on 4/3 and home to the Lakers on 4/10. The Lakers are tied with the Pels at 31-42. Pels have the tie breaker for now but that could change. The Spurs are 2 games back at 29-44. All of this means the Nuggets may face the AD fueled Lakers when the Lakers are fighting for a play in spot and a home court advantage in the first play in game. Hopefully they take at least 1 of 2 and give us a little more breathing room.

[Calinks]

Things like that 6 game losing streak really destroy you at the end of the season, imagine if we went .500 during that? This is why the regular season does matter and people who think otherwise are only thinking about the few elite teams in the league that will finish top 3 no matter what.