Projecting the Timberwolves’ possible first-round matchups

With the NBA playoffs quickly approaching, the Timberwolves may find themselves in any one of these first round scenarios.

With four games remaining, the Timberwolves find themselves seventh in the tough Western Conference. As of right now they would play the banged-up Golden State Warriors in the first round of the playoffs.

Although that is how it stands right now the Wolves may not know exactly who they play until the regular season is over.

To put it in perspective, the Wolves are 1.5 games out of fourth-place and 1.5 games ahead of ninth-place. And what that means is that the Wolves have just as great of a chance of receiving home-court in the first round than they do not making the playoffs at all.

On that note, its must-win time for the Wolves. The obvious goal, if possible, is to avoid the Rockets or the Warriors in the first round. However, seeing how the Wolves have not been to the playoffs in over a decade and are not yet guaranteed a spot this season should mean the team and fans should be happy to just get in at this point — especially given their recent swoon.

Before getting into each possible matchup there a few notes to point out. The first is most obvious; the one and two seeds are out of the question. As for the three seed, which is currently held by the Portland Trail Blazers, well, they seem to have it on lock-down. They have a three game lead over fourth-place and show no signs of slowing down.

That leaves Nos. 4 through 8 wide-open for the Wolves to grab. The worst-case scenario is, again, not qualifying for the playoffs at all.

However, for the purpose of the article we’ll start with the Wolves worst scenario in terms of seeding, which is eighth.