Playoff Race and Scoreboard Watching

[shrink]

The firing of Mike Malone is likely bad news for us in the standings.

This may lead to more loses so DEN falls behind us, and if we’re not tied, we don’t get our 4-0 record vs the nuggets added into our tie-breakers,

[Klomp]

The firing of Mike Malone is likely bad news for us in the standings.

This may lead to more loses so DEN falls behind us, and if we’re not tied, we don’t get our 4-0 record vs the nuggets added into our tie-breakers,

Or, considering our propensity to lose games we "shouldn't", it might benefit us....

[Ethomasp31]

Interesting to see OKC favored by so much over the Lakers. Luka and LeBron are both listed as questionable with groin strains, and it looks like Vegas thinks they might just rest them both and focus on their final three opponents.

Dame is out for our game, Giannis is probable. We are favored, but this is a dangerous game in MIL. Aside from LAL, we have the toughest matchup tonight.

The timberwolves opened as 2.5 point favorites and now the line is up to 5.5. i wonder if Giannis will be sitting out.

[Klomp]

Interesting to see OKC favored by so much over the Lakers. Luka and LeBron are both listed as questionable with groin strains, and it looks like Vegas thinks they might just rest them both and focus on their final three opponents.

Dame is out for our game, Giannis is probable. We are favored, but this is a dangerous game in MIL. Aside from LAL, we have the toughest matchup tonight.

The timberwolves opened as 2.5 point favorites and now the line is up to 5.5. i wonder if Giannis will be sitting out.

Wild!

Also, Bobby Portis is back for Milwaukee.

[TimberKat]

Two minutes remaining in 1st qtr in between MEM vs CHA and the game is over. No help from anyone tonight. Wolves got to win it.

[winforlose]

Two minutes remaining in 1st qtr in between MEM vs CHA and the game is over. No help from anyone tonight. Wolves got to win it.

lol. That’s like 7 year old you going trick or treating, you visit the first house and they give you an apple. You turn to your mom and say “let’s go home, I am 100% positive I will not get any candy tonight.” You could be right, or you could be wrong. What if Ja and JJJ get injured or tossed. What if the Hornets hit 20 3s in the next 3 quarters. To say nothing of the other games.


Also worth noting: the Suns are 2.5 games back of Dallas with 4 to go. They have the tie breaker over Dallas, and they have one more game against the Kings trailing 2-1 in that series. A loss tonight against the Warriors could eliminate them from the 9-10 race. If they have any pride left and want to at least compete for the 8 seed, tonight is a must win.

[TimberKat]

Two minutes remaining in 1st qtr in between MEM vs CHA and the game is over. No help from anyone tonight. Wolves got to win it.

lol. That’s like 7 year old you going trick or treating, you visit the first house and they give you an apple. You turn to your mom and say “let’s go home, I am 100% positive I will not get any candy tonight.” You could be right, or you could be wrong. What if Ja and JJJ get injured or tossed. What if the Hornets hit 20 3s in the next 3 quarters. To say nothing of the other games.

I like to be wrong but it ain't happening with MEM. Good luck finding candy from LAC. GSW vs KD-less Suns? Trick or treat? You decide. I will ask my mom to buy me candy instead

[winforlose]

Two minutes remaining in 1st qtr in between MEM vs CHA and the game is over. No help from anyone tonight. Wolves got to win it.

lol. That’s like 7 year old you going trick or treating, you visit the first house and they give you an apple. You turn to your mom and say “let’s go home, I am 100% positive I will not get any candy tonight.” You could be right, or you could be wrong. What if Ja and JJJ get injured or tossed. What if the Hornets hit 20 3s in the next 3 quarters. To say nothing of the other games.

I like to be wrong but it ain't happening with MEM. Good luck finding candy from LAC. GSW vs KD-less Suns? Trick or treat? You decide. I will ask my mom to buy me candy instead

You left off OKC. Also maybe GSW slips or LAC slips. Ye of little faith.

[TimberKat]

lol. That’s like 7 year old you going trick or treating, you visit the first house and they give you an apple. You turn to your mom and say “let’s go home, I am 100% positive I will not get any candy tonight.” You could be right, or you could be wrong. What if Ja and JJJ get injured or tossed. What if the Hornets hit 20 3s in the next 3 quarters. To say nothing of the other games.

I like to be wrong but it ain't happening with MEM. Good luck finding candy from LAC. GSW vs KD-less Suns? Trick or treat? You decide. I will ask my mom to buy me candy instead

You left off OKC. Also maybe GSW slips or LAC slips. Ye of little faith.

Yes, the Lakers hand out toilet papers instead of candy, so it's useless to go there.

[winforlose]

Jaylen Wells broke his wrist tonight. Ant’s life just got much easier on Thursday.

[shrink]

April 9

#3 LAL (48-31). 0.0 GB

#4 LAC (47-32). 1.0 GB
#5 DEN (47-32). 1.0 GB
#6 GSW (47-32). 1.0 GB
#7 MEM (47-32). 1.0 GB

#8 MIN (46-33). 2.0 GB

LAL: @DAL (btb), vsHOU, @POR
LAC: vsHOU (btb), @SAC, @GSW
DEN: @SAC, vsMEM, @HOU
GSW: vsSAS (btb), @POR, vsLAC
MEM: vsMIN, @DEN (btb), vsDAL
MIN: @MEM, vsBRK (btb), vsUTA

Games Wednesday, April 9

6:30 PM: LAL (48-31) @ DAL (38-41). LAL favored by 4.5. ESPN
9:00 PM: SAS (32-47) @ GSW (47-32). GSW favored by 15.5
9:00 PM: DEN (47-32) @ SAC (39-40). DEN favored by 3.5. ESPN
9:30 PM: HOU (52-27) @ LAC (47-32). LAC favored by 7.5

(Painful making it today!)

[frankenwolf]

April 9

#3 LAL (48-31). 0.0 GB

#4 LAC (47-32). 1.0 GB
#5 DEN (47-32). 1.0 GB
#6 GSW (47-32). 1.0 GB
#7 MEM (47-32). 1.0 GB

#8 MIN (46-33). 2.0 GB

LAL: @DAL (btb), vsHOU, @POR
LAC: vsHOU (btb), @SAC, @GSW
DEN: @SAC, vsMEM, @HOU
GSW: vsSAS (btb), @POR, vsLAC
MEM: vsMIN, @DEN (btb), vsDAL
MIN: @MEM, vsBRK (btb), vsUTA

Games Wednesday, April 9

6:30 PM: LAL (48-31) @ DAL (38-41). LAL favored by 4.5. ESPN
9:00 PM: SAS (32-47) @ GSW (47-32). GSW favored by 15.5
9:00 PM: DEN (47-32) @ SAC (39-40). DEN favored by 3.5. ESPN
9:30 PM: HOU (52-27) @ LAC (47-32). LAC favored by 7.5

(Painful making it today!)

Yes, but if this season has shown me anything, all the favorites will lose tonight and the Wolves will be right back in the hunt for 4th place.

[KGdaBom]

We blew a 24 point 4th quarter lead in a critical game. WTF.

[cupcakesnake]

We blew a 24 point 4th quarter lead in a critical game. WTF.

This team is too inconsistent to win a championship (or win a tough series maybe). It sucks, because we've all seen this team has it in them on the right night. They're capable of playing elite offense and defense at the same time, they can physically overwhelm teams and play smart. When everyone thinks of themselves as a playmaker inside a team attack, we're absolute bullies out there. Then we throw that all out, Ant decides he has to put the offense on his back (which almost never ever works this season) and we can lose to literally anyone.

This team is very very good when we use Ant as a dual pressure point (rim pressure and 3-point gravity), to set up an aggressive drive and kick machine between our drivers and our spacers (and our guys who can do both), while keeping Rudy engaged in the offense as a lob threat in a way that paralyses the help.

I could see the Wolves playing the right way for a couple weeks, winning a series, and getting an advantage in another series. I struggle to imagine the Wolves not switching from Jekyll to Hyde at some point and ending their own run.

I should be more positive about this team going 14-4 (over a very easy schedule). The success of the Warriors and Clippers happening at the same time has made it that every time we lose it feels like an absolute catastrophe. Hopefully we can finish strong, and avoid the play-in.

[KGdaBom]

We blew a 24 point 4th quarter lead in a critical game. WTF.

This team is too inconsistent to win a championship (or win a tough series maybe). It sucks, because we've all seen this team has it in them on the right night. They're capable of playing elite offense and defense at the same time, they can physically overwhelm teams and play smart. When everyone thinks of themselves as a playmaker inside a team attack, we're absolute bullies out there. Then we throw that all out, Ant decides he has to put the offense on his back (which almost never ever works this season) and we can lose to literally anyone.

This team is very very good when we use Ant as a dual pressure point (rim pressure and 3-point gravity), to set up an aggressive drive and kick machine between our drivers and our spacers (and our guys who can do both), while keeping Rudy engaged in the offense as a lob threat in a way that paralyses the help.

I could see the Wolves playing the right way for a couple weeks, winning a series, and getting an advantage in another series. I struggle to imagine the Wolves not switching from Jekyll to Hyde at some point and ending their own run.

I should be more positive about this team going 14-4 (over a very easy schedule). The success of the Warriors and Clippers happening at the same time has made it that every time we lose it feels like an absolute catastrophe. Hopefully we can finish strong, and avoid the play-in.

6th place would be just fine. We can certainly win any matchup we get.

[cupcakesnake]

We blew a 24 point 4th quarter lead in a critical game. WTF.

This team is too inconsistent to win a championship (or win a tough series maybe). It sucks, because we've all seen this team has it in them on the right night. They're capable of playing elite offense and defense at the same time, they can physically overwhelm teams and play smart. When everyone thinks of themselves as a playmaker inside a team attack, we're absolute bullies out there. Then we throw that all out, Ant decides he has to put the offense on his back (which almost never ever works this season) and we can lose to literally anyone.

This team is very very good when we use Ant as a dual pressure point (rim pressure and 3-point gravity), to set up an aggressive drive and kick machine between our drivers and our spacers (and our guys who can do both), while keeping Rudy engaged in the offense as a lob threat in a way that paralyses the help.

I could see the Wolves playing the right way for a couple weeks, winning a series, and getting an advantage in another series. I struggle to imagine the Wolves not switching from Jekyll to Hyde at some point and ending their own run.

I should be more positive about this team going 14-4 (over a very easy schedule). The success of the Warriors and Clippers happening at the same time has made it that every time we lose it feels like an absolute catastrophe. Hopefully we can finish strong, and avoid the play-in.

6th place would be just fine. We can certainly win any matchup we get.

6th feels pretty optimistic though. Due to the wall of tie breakers, we're now the most probably to fall to 8th (besides Denver maybe). 5, 6, and 7 are all firmly in play but everything is random. It's entirely plausible that 5 teams finish with 48 wins. The other 4 can all reach 50 by winning out, where we're now capped at 49.

The 4th quarter last night was frustrating. We ran the right schemes to shred a 2-3 zone (Naz cutting to the nail while Conley lured out the trap) but then we failed miserably at executing the simple passes to finish off the broken zone. It's not even like Milwaukee was playing hellacious defense. We just kept throwing the ball near their hands and they scrambled after we broke the zone.

[winforlose]

This team is too inconsistent to win a championship (or win a tough series maybe). It sucks, because we've all seen this team has it in them on the right night. They're capable of playing elite offense and defense at the same time, they can physically overwhelm teams and play smart. When everyone thinks of themselves as a playmaker inside a team attack, we're absolute bullies out there. Then we throw that all out, Ant decides he has to put the offense on his back (which almost never ever works this season) and we can lose to literally anyone.

This team is very very good when we use Ant as a dual pressure point (rim pressure and 3-point gravity), to set up an aggressive drive and kick machine between our drivers and our spacers (and our guys who can do both), while keeping Rudy engaged in the offense as a lob threat in a way that paralyses the help.

I could see the Wolves playing the right way for a couple weeks, winning a series, and getting an advantage in another series. I struggle to imagine the Wolves not switching from Jekyll to Hyde at some point and ending their own run.

I should be more positive about this team going 14-4 (over a very easy schedule). The success of the Warriors and Clippers happening at the same time has made it that every time we lose it feels like an absolute catastrophe. Hopefully we can finish strong, and avoid the play-in.

6th place would be just fine. We can certainly win any matchup we get.

6th feels pretty optimistic though. Due to the wall of tie breakers, we're now the most probably to fall to 8th (besides Denver maybe). 5, 6, and 7 are all firmly in play but everything is random. It's entirely plausible that 5 teams finish with 48 wins. The other 4 can all reach 50 by winning out, where we're now capped at 49.

The 4th quarter last night was frustrating. We ran the right schemes to shred a 2-3 zone (Naz cutting to the nail while Conley lured out the trap) but then we failed miserably at executing the simple passes to finish off the broken zone. It's not even like Milwaukee was playing hellacious defense. We just kept throwing the ball near their hands and they scrambled after we broke the zone.

That is bad math. If we beat Memphis and the two tanking teams we end at 33 losses. Either LAC or GSW must also add a 33 loss. Plus one of Memphis and Denver must lose a game. Could easily be 6th, even 5th depending on the Rockets. What we lost was the ability to climb to 3rd and the likelihood of being 4th. Each had its own advantages.

[Klomp]

The firing of Mike Malone is likely bad news for us in the standings.

This may lead to more loses so DEN falls behind us, and if we’re not tied, we don’t get our 4-0 record vs the nuggets added into our tie-breakers,

Or, considering our propensity to lose games we "shouldn't", it might benefit us....

Oh hi guys...

[cupcakesnake]

6th place would be just fine. We can certainly win any matchup we get.

6th feels pretty optimistic though. Due to the wall of tie breakers, we're now the most probably to fall to 8th (besides Denver maybe). 5, 6, and 7 are all firmly in play but everything is random. It's entirely plausible that 5 teams finish with 48 wins. The other 4 can all reach 50 by winning out, where we're now capped at 49.

The 4th quarter last night was frustrating. We ran the right schemes to shred a 2-3 zone (Naz cutting to the nail while Conley lured out the trap) but then we failed miserably at executing the simple passes to finish off the broken zone. It's not even like Milwaukee was playing hellacious defense. We just kept throwing the ball near their hands and they scrambled after we broke the zone.

That is bad math. If we beat Memphis and the two ranking teams we end at 33 losses. Either LAC or GSW must also add a 33 loss. Plus one of Memphis and Denver must lose a game. Could easily be 6th, even 5th depending on the Rockets. What we lost was the ability to climb to 3rd and the likelihood of being 4th. Each had its own advantages.

Which part of the math are you saying is bad?
I didn't say we couldn't reach 6, just that it felt optimistic. Mathematically, 6th is still our most likely seed (23.9%), but our combined chances of being 7 or 8 outweigh that at 36.2%. We also have a 31% chance of climbing into the 4/5. It's fair to point out we have a slightly higher % chance of clinching a top 6 seed.

I worry about the back to back (against beatable opponents), but wouldn't it be so wolfey of us to win those and then lose to Utah on the last day?

[Klomp]

Let's be real for a moment....

We went from yesterday saying "we need to win out to get the No. 3 seed" to "we need to win out to avoid the play-in" today. I know the West is congested, but I'm not sure one game against an East team is the difference between 3rd and 7th. Sure there's a chance, but people are speaking as if it's a foregone conclusion.