NBA games of the week: West finally takes shape
By Chazz Scogna
Wednesday, Apr. 11: Denver at Minnesota, 8:00 p.m. ET
The scenarios with which teams make the postseason can be so confusing when your system is two numbers deep (wins and losses) with a bunch of tiebreakers like divisional record (who even cares about division?) and head-to-head record. If either Minnesota or Denver finishes the week 2-0, then they make the postseason. The thing about it is, obviously, they both won’t go 2-0. One of those teams will lose on Wednesday.
The Nuggets haven’t been to the postseason since 2012. The Timberwolves haven’t been there since 2004. In the Opening Round, those Wolves won their series against Denver, 4-1.
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Since March 1, Minnesota is 7-9. They went from a team ready to jostle their way to the postseason to missing it. They weren’t helped by missing Jimmy Butler, who was making a case for some MVP votes, who miss time with a knee injury.
An entire season’s worth of up and downs for the Wolves and 14 years of waiting could all come down to Game 82. Man, the NBA is something else.