The Minnesota Timberwolves post-All-Star break schedule begins on Friday. Currently, Minnesota owns a 34-22 record, sixth-best in the Western Conference. They also sit just 1.5 games out of third.
On the latest episode of his The Bill Simmons Podcast, Simmons says this about the Timberwolves,
"I don’t think you can do it as the road team in four straight rounds. I think for them (Timberwolves), you have to at least get the four seed, maybe even the three seed…you’re not doing it as a five or six seed unless it’s a really, really weird season or a really, really weak conference. This isn’t a weak conference."
It’s good for Minnesota that the opportunity is there to climb up to third or fourth.
Timberwolves excelled after the All-Star break last season
Now, Timberwolves fans may believe that a top-four seed isn’t necessary. It was just last season that they finished sixth in the West and reached the Western Conference finals. However, Minnesota still fell seven wins short of winning the franchise's first title.
Past history shows that a top-four seed is probably necessary. Only one team that didn’t have homecourt advantage in the opening round has won it all. In 1995, the Houston Rockets swept the Orlando Magic to win their second-straight title as the sixth seed in the Western Conference. Houston also added a Hall of Famer in Clyde Drexler at the trade deadline that year.
As mentioned, moving up to third is a distinct possibility if the Timberwolves play well over their final 26 regular season contests. Minnesota helped fix a huge hole in bolstering their bench with the addition of Ayo Dosunmu at the trade deadline, and he already looks to have seamlessly fit in after just three games.
Right now, Minnesota is mere percentage points behind the Los Angeles Lakers (33-21). The Houston Rockets are just a half-game ahead of them (33-20), and the Denver Nuggets are 1.5 games ahead (35-20). Check back a few days after the post-All-Star break games start up, and the Wolves could already be in third if things break right.
Unfortunately for Minnesota, they have already lost the tiebreaker to the Nuggets and Lakers. They would need to win their final two matchups with the Rockets after Houston won the first.
It was just last season though that the Timberwolves went 18-6 after the All-Star break. A similar run will likely put them in excellent position to move into third.