Dunking With Wolves
Fansided

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

By Austin Wallert

Memphis Grizzlies forward Jaren Jackson Jr. dribbles the ball against Anthony Edwards and the Minnesota Timberwolves. Mandatory Credit: David Berding-USA TODAY Sports
Memphis Grizzlies forward Jaren Jackson Jr. dribbles the ball against Anthony Edwards and the Minnesota Timberwolves. Mandatory Credit: David Berding-USA TODAY Sports /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
2 of 3
Next
Minnesota Timberwolves
Patrick Beverley of the Minnesota Timberwolves handles the ball against Ja Morant of the Memphis Grizzlies. (Photo by Justin Ford/Getty Images) /

Advantages to the Timberwolves being the No. 7 seed

By winning game one, the Timberwolves will enter the playoffs as the seven seed and go up against the Memphis Grizzlies. This means the Timberwolves will avoid the Phoenix Suns, the Dallas Mavericks, and if there are any upsets, the Utah Jazz, and more than likely the Clippers again as the eighth seed. Those teams have a combined 11-4 record against the Timberwolves.

By staying as the No. 7 seed, the Timberwolves’ possible opponents of the Grizzlies, the Golden State Warriors, and the Nuggets have a combined 5-7 record against the Timberwolves. The Grizzlies only have one year of playoff experience, and they went 1-4 in that series last year against the Jazz.

The Timberwolves roster doesn’t have much playoff experience either, but with guys like Patrick Beverly and Taurean Prince to help the young guys keep focus and handle the adversity, I like our chances of upsetting a young Grizzlies team who way overperformed their expectations coming into the season.

If the Timberwolves get past the Grizzlies, they then face the winner of the Nuggets and Warriors — two teams the Timberwolves went .500 or better against. This season, the Nuggets bested the Warriors three out of the four times they played, so if the record stays true in the playoffs, we are looking at a Nuggets and Timberwolves second-round battle.

If the Warriors prevail, however, they have Andrew Wiggins Revenge Game13.0 (or something like that) in his career, and honestly, I’d let him shoot the ball.

Now that we have determined the Timberwolves are making the Western Conference Finals, let’s look at the other side of the bracket.

The Mavericks are the only team the Timberwolves didn’t have a losing record against (2-2), so we hope for that match-up. What is the likelihood of the Mavericks making it out? Well, they went 2-2 versus the Jazz, 0-3 versus the Suns, and 2-2 versus the Clippers. So, we hope for a first-round upset with the Clippers over the Suns, then we become BIG Mavericks fans.

Since we are already this far, let’s see who the Timberwolves are beating in the Finals.

Home/Timberwolves News