It’s looking increasingly likely that the Timberwolves (45-34) will finish No. 7 and face the No. 8 Clippers in the play-in tournament, but securing No. 6 is not completely out of the question yet.
The Jazz (46-32), who currently sit in sixth place, are only 1.5 games ahead of Minnesota, in addition to the fifth-place Nuggets being just two games up.
Here’s a look at the scenarios facing the Wolves:
3 ways the Wolves can get the No. 6 seed
1. Win out to finish with 48 victories while the Jazz lose at least three of their final four games to finish with no more than 47 wins.
2. Utah owns the tiebreaker over Minnesota, so the only other scenario involving only Minnesota and Utah is Minnesota finishing with 47 wins and the Jazz losing all four of its games to stay at 46 wins.
3. If Utah passes Denver for the No. 5 seed, the Wolves can still get the No. 6 if they finish tied or ahead of the Nuggets. That would require Minnesota either: a) winning out to finish with 48 wins and Denver losing at least two of its last three games, or b) winning two of three to finish with 47 wins and Denver losing all three of its games.
Denver plays all three games at home this week: Spurs Tuesday, Grizzlies Thursday and against the Lakers on Sunday.
How the Wolves can get the No. 5 seed
It’s nearly impossible, but this would require:
Minnesota winning out (48 wins) and the Nuggets going 1-2 or worse and the Jazz going 1-3 or worse, or Minnesota finishing with 47 wins (going 2-1 this week) and the Nuggets and Jazz both losing out.
Clippers could be scary in play-in tournament
From afar, the Clippers (39-40) aren’t very intimidating. But they have won three of four since Paul George returned from an elbow injury, including a big come-from-behind win over the Jazz and a blowout win at Milwaukee in which Robert Covington caught fire for 43 points.
And news Monday suggests that the Clippers could get Norman Powell back from injury. Minnesota’s roster is far more talented, but in a one-game scenario it’s never fun facing George with a decent set of compliments likes Powell, Covington, Nic Batum and Reggie Jackson, who oh by the way has killed the Wolves this season.
It’s even more intimidating if you consider the fact that the Clippers rocked the Wolves by double digits three times in November. That was a long time ago, but arguably the best comparison to what the Clippers will be in the play-in tournament based on roster health.
Granted, the Wolves lost those games when they were playing like garbage in November.
Either way, if the Wolves beat the Clippers in this possible scenario they would go on to face the Grizzles in a best-of-seven series. If they lost to the Clippers, they’d play a do-or-die game against the winner of the 9-10 play-in game (probably the Pelicans vs. Spurs), with the loser’s season ending and the winner facing the Suns in a best-of-seven series.
