For #14 Timberwolves, 1st Place is Closer than 15th



So, things haven’t gone as well for the Timberwolves since they have hit the road on another long west coast road trip. On said trip, their defense has fallen apart and that has (predictably) lead to the recent string of losses.

The West is so stupidly pressed together (like your little package and the whitey-tighties your mom squeezed you into for 7 years before you realized there were other options) that they have fallen to 14th place (2nd to last) on that stretch.

Because I’m a fucking idiot, I was doing our #MSFdaily graphics this morning, which I thought included the Timberwolves vs Suns. It doesn’t. That game isn’t until tomorrow (Saturday) night. Working ahead I guess… less time tomorrow?

Anyway, when looking at the standings, the Wolves fall to 14 caught me by surprise but I was really intrigued when I realized that, at #14, the Wolves are currently closer to the 1st-place Warriors and Nuggets (5.5 games back) than they are the TERRIBLE team behind them (and the team they play tomorrow night), the Phoenix Suns (8.5 games ahead).

That is so fucking fascinating… The Phoenix Suns are the only bad team in the West. And so far, the teams that are supposed to be far-and-away the front-runners, haven’t pulled away.

This tells me a couple of things.

On a random note, the Lakers are going to get a top-4 seed because of how close all of these teams are. When all things are close to the same, LeBron James will push his mediocre team to the top of their ceiling.

Back to the Timberwolves, it also bodes well for them, as long as they can get their defense back together and Wiggins can continue to play better and harder. If they can do those things, their schedule looks really ripe for a big rip of victories. In a conference like this, you can win 5-straight and find yourself as a top contender.

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I worried early-on that the Wolves had traded themselves into mediocrity when they sent Butler to Philly for Saric and Covington but they have looked much better most of the time than I ever forethought them to be. Plus, the rest of the Western Conference has looked A LOT more mediocre than we expected. 

Who knows what could happen if you can raise yourself to above average in a league where the average includes 12 of the 15 teams…

via GIPHY

Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Fan |
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