Why falling short of the No. 6 seed could benefit the Minnesota Timberwolves

The regular season has ended, and the Minnesota Timberwolves are in the play-in tournament as the No. 7 seed. It’s a good spot for them, and here’s why…

Why falling short of the No. 6 seed could benefit the Minnesota Timberwolves

In the final stretch of the season, the Timberwolves had their chances to climb to the No. 6 seed, but ultimately couldn’t string enough wins together to overtake the Dallas Mavericks, Utah Jazz, or Denver Nuggets, who also put together a run of wins (or, in Utah’s case, an epic collapse).

But, this might have actually worked in the favor of the Timberwolves. Here’s why:

The Play-In Tournament

First, let’s factor in the play-in tournament. I understand the risk of not making it out of the tournament, but I like our chances. Here are the matchups.

Round One

No. 7 Timberwolves vs. No. 8 Los Angeles Clippers

No. 9 New Orleans Pelicans vs. No. 10 San Antonio Spurs

Round Two

Loser of 7 vs. 8 vs. Winner of 9 vs.10

The Timberwolves are 1-3 against the Clippers this season, but those three losses came in a span of less than two weeks back in November. The lone win the Timberwolves have against the Clippers came in January, but Paul George was injured at the time.

The Clippers seemed to have a great defensive game plan for Karl-Anthony Towns by using the four-spot to guard him, something that a lot of other teams tried to do as well. But, the bad losses could have also been the fact the Timberwolves lost eight of their nine games in that stretch.

Since that slump, the Timberwolves have a record of 42 wins and 27 losses. Paul George being back definitely hurts the Timberwolves’ chances of winning, but if they can win that first game of the play-in, they will reap the benefits. Anything can happen with just one game on the line.