3 surefire events, 2 surprises that may happen in Wolves-Lakers Play-In match up

The Minnesota Timberwolves may be thought to have exhausted their roster and their chances simply by finishing the 2022-23 NBA season as the eight-seeded team in the NBA Western Conference. In days long past, that would be enough to have crossed the finish line as a team that has earned the eighth and final spot in the NBA Playoffs.

That was then, this is now.

Now, the eighth-seeded Minnesota Timberwolves must compete for and win the right to compete in the NBA Playoffs via the NBA Play-In Tournament, and their first adversary is the current red-hot Los Angeles Lakers.

It seems both ironic and fitting that the Minnesota Timberwolves would face the Los Angeles Lakers in their quest to compete in the postseason this year. At the NBA Trade Deadline, the Lakers (25-31) and the Timberwolves (30-28) negotiated a trade with a third team, the Utah Jazz (27-29) in a three-way trade scenario that looked like this:

Since the NBA Trade Deadline, the Lakers have been red hot, finishing out the season with a record of 18-8. The Timberwolves remained Steady-Freddie, playing out to a record of 12-12. And the Utah Jazz backslid with a record of 10-16 to close out the season.

Surefire Event III: This game will not be a blowout

On paper, the Minnesota Timberwolves roster is razor thin, and the Los Angeles Lakers roster is robust and healthy. That’s just the fact, as is the fact that the Lakers have been a red-hot team and the Timberwolves have not, which has set the stage for this to be a relative feast of boasting and bravado for Lakers fans to taunt, troll, and otherwise flaunt their overconfidence on social media.

Right now, the Timberwolves roster is as depleted as it has been all season:

The Minnesota Timberwolves are a frustrating team at times, but this team has played very competitively against very competitive teams, despite an injury-filled 2022-23 NBA season. In fact, the Timberwolves enter this contest holding a two-to-one advantage over the Lakers.

The Timberwolves are very familiar with the Lakers’ new players too. While the Lakers acquired D’Angelo Russell directly from the Timberwolves, both Malik Beasley and Jarred Vanderbilt were on the Timberwolves’ roster one year ago and were part of the package sent to the Utah Jazz in the Rudy Gobert trade. The Jazz subsequently shipped them to the Lakers at the NBA Trade Deadline.

While the Timberwolves may be severely shorthanded in this one, the team will not be surprised by any of the Lakers’ late roster additions.