After months of battling for the coveted 6th spot in the playoffs, The Minnesota Timberwolves are going to slightly miss out and are locked into the 7th seed. They will face the 8th seeded, LA Clippers on Tuesday, April 12th with an 8:30 p.m. tip-off at the Target Center in the NBA Play-In Tournament.
Many pundits will say the biggest hole in this team is their size and that they often get overrun in the paint. Minnesota's front office believed this true as well because they went and signed the big, tall, and physical Center, Greg Monroe, to a contract for the remainder of the season. While this gets them bigger, they still lack in one area of the game, consistency.
The Minnesota Timberwolves are simply too inconsistent to make a deep playoff run this season. While they have shown tremendous improvements from years past, they have also shown that they are very young and will need to find their consistency before they are considered contenders in the West.
They can beat any team in the league ( Bucks, Heat, Sixers), but they also can lose to any team in the league ( Wizards, Magic).
Anthony Edwards dropped a career-high 49 points and hit 16 of his first 22 shots in the win over the Spurs on Thursday. However, at the end of the game in the dying moments, he went 0-for-6 as he was trying to force shots in hopes of reaching 50 points. He went 1-for-6 from deep in the disappointing loss to the Wizards on Tuesday and ever since returning from his knee injury, he hasn't looked the same.
When he is hot he is on fire, but that is still a big if for the second year 20-year-old. Hopefully, the career-setting performance will jump-start his engine because the Timberwolves will only go as far as ANT will take them.
Karl Anthony Towns has been the MVP for Minnesota this season, he has been a consistently dominant player when he is on the floor. You know what you will get from him each night.
However, he can not do it all by himself and will need his supporting cast of ANT and D'Angelo Russel to make a run in the post-season.
DLO has always been extremely hot and cold in his career. He seems to have big stretches of excellent scoring, but then he follows it up with absolutely terrible shooting, and right now he is stuck in the rut. For Minnesota to make any sort of run, they need him to find his scoring touch again.
DLO will always be a great facilitator and able to make the big plays, but when he is scoring with ease, this team is firing on all cylinders.
Like I said at the start of the season, Minnesota will only go as far as their big three take them. Well, they got them to the Play-In tournament and now have a great chance at the playoffs, something that has alluded this organization for far too long.
Minnesota can and will beat the Clippers in the Play-In game to advance to be the 7th seed to play the Memphis Grizzlies in the first round.
Minnesota has been very good at home this season (26-14) and especially as of late. The crowd inside the Target Center has been the most electric it has been in years and I expect an absolute rambunctious crowd on Tuesday with fans eager to see their team in the playoffs for just the second time in the KAT era.
If the Wolves were to lose that game, they would then face and host the winner of the Spurs vs. Pelicans for a shot to be the 8th seed in the playoffs.
With how well the Clippers have been playing as of late, it is sure to be a closely contested game.
However, I do predict that the Wolves win the game and face the Grizzlies in the first round. As much as I want to say the Wolves would win that matchup, I just don't see it happening.
The season matchups were all close and tightly contested, but if your missing shots in the playoffs then you will lose and the Wolves have a tendency to get hot and cold in games and for stretches of games.
I do think the Wolves can pull out two wins against the Grizzlies ( both at home ), but will ultimately fall to Memphis in six games, 4 games to two.
For a team that has been as inconsistent as the Wolves have been, I just do not think they can win four games against a very good Memphis team that has been without their star player for a majority of the games.
With that said it is the playoffs and anything can happen, but it would take some miracle and lights out shooting from ANT, KAT, and DLO to make it happen.
If the Wolves were to advance it would be because their three stars are playing lights out. It would also be because their role players like Beasley, Reid, McDaniels, and Beverly are also playing lights out on both ends of the court.
It can be done, but they need to find their consistency and find it quick.
My Conference final predictions are:
Suns Vs. Grizzlies
Bucks Vs. Celtics
What's Next:
Minnesota hosts the Chicago Bulls in the penultimate game on Sunday the 10th of April at 7:30 at the Target Center. I predict this game to be more of a run-through for both teams as both teams are locked into their playoff spots. I predict starters to play, but they will not play as many minutes, especially for the Wolves who will have a very important game on Tuesday. They will not want to risk any injury in what will be like an almost pre-season game.
Sunday, April 10, 2022. at 7:30 p. m. central time
Author: Alex Bader
Check our Social Media to stay up to date!
Subscribe to the email list for free to stay up to date!
Did you enjoy the Article? Let me know your thoughts!
(a profile is required to comment and they are free and easy to make. A profile is not required to subscribe or to like or share!)
Comentarios