The NBA hasn’t released the full schedule for the first round of the playoffs, but Game 1 start times have been revealed and the Minnesota Timberwolves and Los Angeles Lakes will get the primetime slot when they begin a best-of-seven series on Saturday.
The league announced Monday morning that Game 1 between the Wolves and Lakers will tip off at 7:30 p.m. CT and be televised nationally on ABC. The Lakers are the No. 3 seed and will have home-court advantage against the sixth-seeded Wolves.
Games 1 and 2 are in Los Angeles. Games 3 and 4 will be in Minnesota. If the series goes beyond four games, Game 5 will be in L.A., Game 6 in Minnesota and Game 7 in L.A.
NBA schedule Saturday
12 p.m. — Bucks at Pacers
2:30 p..m. — Clippers at Nuggets
5 p.m. — Pistons at Knicks
7:30 p.m. — Wolves at Lakers
The matchups for Sunday are pending the results of the play-in tournament games, but we do know that the top two seeds in the East (Cavaliers and Celtics) and West (Thunder and Rockets) will be hosting games.
That likely means Game 2 between the Wolves and Lakers will be Monday or Tuesday.
The Minnesota Timberwolves’ path to a top-six seed in the Western Conference is simple: win the last two regular-season games. The Wolves now control their own destiny as they look to avoid the play-in tournament in the season’s final days.
Following Thursday’s win over the Memphis Grizzlies, Minnesota is eighth in the Western Conference standings, which feature a three-team tie between the Golden State Warriors, Grizzlies and Wolves from Nos. 6-8. But Minnesota would guarantee itself a top-six seed with wins over the Brooklyn Nets and Utah Jazz in the last games of the regular season.
With two wins, the Wolves would finish with a 49-33 record, and they hold tiebreakers over the Denver Nuggets (fourth) and Los Angeles Clippers (fifth), who are both a game ahead of Minnesota in the standings. The Grizzlies and Warriors, who are tied with the Wolves in the standings, both hold tiebreakers over Minnesota. But matchups between Memphis and Denver and between Los Angeles and Golden State remain on the schedule, meaning something will have to give.
For example, if the Nuggets win out and the Clippers win out, the Grizzlies and Warriors would at best finish with 48-33 records, and the Wolves would be in as the sixth seed. Depending how things shake out, the standings could look like this:
Thunder
Rockets
Lakers
Nuggets
Clippers
Wolves
The Wolves have a pathway to a seed as high as No. 4. If the Wolves win out and they end up in a three-way tie with the Nuggets and Clippers, or a four-way tie with the Nuggets, Clippers and Grizzlies, they’d hold the tiebreaker for best record in games between the tied teams as none of the teams would have won their division. The standings could look like this:
Thunder
Rockets
Lakers
Wolves
Clippers
Nuggets/Grizzlies
The most interesting possibility comes if the Warriors and Grizzlies win out, in which case there’s the possibility of a five-way tie of teams with 49-33 records between the Wolves, Nuggets, Warriors, Grizzlies and Clippers. In that scenario, a division winner would automatically win the tiebreaker, though that’s unlikely to come into play. The next tiebreaker used is record between all tied teams, which would go to the Clippers. The Wolves have the next-best record against tied teams.
In that scenario, the standings could look like this:
Thunder
Rockets
Lakers
Clippers
Wolves
Warriors
In the very unlikely case the Lakers lose their two remaining games and the same other results fell into place, there could be an even more chaotic six-way tie between 49-33 teams. In that scenario, the Clippers would have the tiebreaker as the Pacific Division winner. It would then go to the tiebreaker for record between the tied teams, which would go to the Lakers. The Wolves once again would have the next-best record against the tied teams, and the standings could look like this:
Thunder
Rockets
Clippers
Lakers
Wolves
Warriors
Ultimately, regardless of how crazy things play out in the final days of the season, the Wolves have a very simple path to staying out of the play-in tournament: win their final two games. If they take care of business, they’re in the top six.
The Minnesota Timberwolves didn’t make it easy on themselves, but they accomplished their top priority, beating the Utah Jazz 116-105 Sunday at Target Center in Minneapolis to secure a top-six seed in the Western Conference playoffs.
The playoff field wasn’t officially set until the Los Angeles Clippers beat the Golden State Warriors. The Wolves (49-33) are locked into the sixth seed and will face the third-seeded Los Angeles Lakers in the first round of the playoffs.
Told the guys (I’m) super proud of their body of work this year,” Timberwolves coach Chris Finch said. “We didn’t make a big trade in the middle of the season to sort things out. We didn’t fire coaches to try to sort things out. They sorted out themselves. Those guys made the right adjustments and sacrifices and figured out who they needed to be as a team. We still got a lot in front of us, but all credit to those guys in there because it mattered to them to figure it out, and they did.”
It was a slow start Sunday for Minnesota, which nearly took a double-digit lead in the first half, but could never gain separation and led by just one at the halftime break. The Wolves did respond out of the half, however, starting the third quarter with a different level of defensive intensity. About midway through the frame, they finally took a double-digit lead.
Anthony Edwards, who was only able to play after his technical foul against the Brooklyn Nets that would have resulted in another one-game suspension was rescinded, was the driver of the third-quarter run, scoring 18 of his game-high 43 points in the quarter. Edwards was hoped he’d be able to play in the finale, and was critical to Minnesota’s winning effort.
In addition to the game-high 43 points, Edwards contributed six boards, five assists and three steals. He also made seven 3-pointers, which thrust him ahead of the Detroit Pistons’ Malik Beasley for most made 3s in the NBA this year with 320.
The Jazz (17-65) were severely short-handed, missing Jordan Clarkson, Lauri Markkanen, John Collins and Walker Kessler, among others. Brice Sensabaugh made six 3-pointers and led the Jazz with a team-high 22 points on Sunday.
Rudy Gobert was a tone setter for the Wolves and played heavy minutes early, making an impact on both ends, particularly on the glass. He finished the game with 19 points, 17 rebounds and four blocks. Donte DiVincenzo made big shots off the bench on his way to 16 points. Julius Randle added 10 points, 10 rebounds and five assists.
It certainly wasn’t the prettiest game from the Wolves, but they accomplished the main goal and avoided appearing in the play-in tournament. Now their focus turns to Luka Doncic, LeBron James and the Lakers in the first round of the playoffs.
